Right after New York City shut down in the winter of 2020, Robin Pecknold played a livestream concert at the historic St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn that he called A Very Lonely Solstice. Now he’s releasing it as a Fleet Foxes live album, just in time for this year’s winter solstice on Dec. 21. Although Fleet Foxes has had a number of lineup changes through the years—Josh Tillman, aka Father John Misty, has come and gone—it had largely solidified in recent years.

However, their last album, 2020’s Shore, featured Pecknold without the other members of the band, due to lockdown and his desire to get the album out expediently. This concert was Pecknold all by his lonesome, with the exception of two songs that feature Resistance Revival Chorus, a choir of women and non-binary singers.

At the time, he described the livestream as “me by myself on the longest night of the year… honoring the loneliness of 2020 with a nylon string and some songs new and old.” By himself, the loneliness is indeed palpable, as the seamless harmonies Fleet Foxes are known for are glaringly absent. The setlist included songs from Shore and others from the Fleet Foxes canon, including 2011’s “Helplessness Blues” and 2017’s “If You Need To, Keep Time On Me.” Lockdown made “I’m Not My Season” a particularly timely choice, as Pecknold sang, “Though I liked summer light on you/ If we ride a winter-long wind/ Well time’s not what I belong to/ And I’m not the season I’m in.”

The album also includes traditional ballad “Silver Dagger” and a cover of “In the Morning” (written by Barry Gibb, but made famous by Nina Simone). Pecknold’s voice and guitar playing are beautiful, and the natural reverb of the empty church lends an otherworldly echo, but the songs are somewhat bereft without other musicians and singers to augment them. Pecknold doesn’t even attempt a rework of Fleet Foxes’ biggest hits “Mykonos” or “White Winter Hymnal,” probably because they’re so dependent on harmonies and drumming.

This aural void is made especially stark by the inclusion at the very end of a version of “Can I Believe You,” recorded live for TV a few days prior with the aforementioned Resistance Revival Chorus and drummer Homer Steinweiss of the Dap-Kings. “Can I Believe You,” which was also a highlight on Shore, shines brightly in this version, but the resulting contrast is possibly to the detriment of the rest of the album.

Many bands are starting to emerge from lockdown with quiet, understated pandemic albums. Solstice is an excellent entry in this genre; it’s mellow without being sad, strong without being strident and reassuring without being cloying. Pecknold has musically preserved in amber the quiet sense of hope that kept us holding on through quarantine. A Very Lonely Solstice was a one-time performance that brought many people comfort one evening during a troubled time, and with this release, listeners will be able return to it again and again for solace.

Follow Rachel Alm at Twitter.com/thouzenfold and Instagram.com/thousandfold.