LONDON: A new Beatles track created with a little assistance from artificial intelligence and featuring the vocals of John Lennon will be released on Thursday, more than 40 years after it was originally recorded as a demo.
“Now And Then”, originally written and sung by Lennon in 1978, was finished by his fellow band members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr — and AI. The track will be released at 1400 GMT by Apple Corps, Capitol and Universal Music Enterprises, with a music video debuting on Friday.
McCartney, aged 81, announced the song’s release in June, in what has been dubbed in a promotional trailer “the last Beatles song”. He said, “It is quite emotional and we all play on it, it’s a genuine Beatles recording,” in a YouTube video before the release.
“Now And Then” was one of several tracks on a cassette that Lennon had recorded for McCartney at his residence in New York’s Dakota Building in 1979 — a year before his death. It was presented to him by Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono in 1994.
Two other songs, “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love”, were polished up by the producer Jeff Lynne, and released in 1995 and 1996. An attempt was made to do the same with “Now And Then” but the project was abandoned due to background noise on the demo.
Kind of Scary
Artificial Intelligence has now made that feasible, even though the use of the technology in music remains the subject of industry-wide debate, with some denouncing copyright infringements and others praising its prowess. After the recording was prepared using the new technology “there it was, John’s voice, crystal clear”, McCartney said.
The two surviving Beatles completed “Now And Then” last year, incorporating George Harrison’s electric and acoustic guitar recorded in 1995.
Recording at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, they also added Starr’s drum part alongside bass, piano, a slide guitar solo by McCartney — inspired by Harrison — and additional backing vocals.
Ringo Starr, aged 83, commented on the emotional impact of the project, stating, “It was like John was there, you know. It’s far out.” Sean Ono Lennon, the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, found it “incredibly touching” to witness the former Beatles collaborating once again “after all the years that dad had been gone.” He regarded the song as a time capsule that felt destined to be. Although the Beatles—Lennon, McCartney, Starr, and Harrison—went their separate ways in 1970, pursuing solo careers, they never reunited.
John Lennon was tragically shot and killed in New York in 1980 at the age of 40, while George Harrison succumbed to lung cancer in 2001 at the age of 58.
