As New York remains silent under lockdown, the New York Public Library has created an online album for New Yorkers, featuring the city's "missing sounds."

Described as an "audio love letter" to the city, the album features tracks that mingle the quintessential sounds of the city, such as a glass breaking in a bar, a dance performance on the subway and even a person walking into the NYPL itself (yes, it's supposed to be quiet. But you can hear people interact with a librarian and walk past toddler story time). There's also an over-enthusastic baseball fan and pigeons cooing in a city park. 

The album is available to stream on Spotify and also online at nypl.org. It was created in partnership with its agency Mother New York, whose previous work for the Library includes the award-winning Insta Novels project. 

The Library is not the only marketer using audio to bring comfort to people in isolation: for example, snack brand MoonPie has created MoonMate, an Alexa skill that it’s positioning as a virtual "roommate" who can provide company and conversation.