After 54 years, The Beatles released a new song called “Now and Then” and it was only possible due to the help of artificial intelligence that helped to make the sound of a John Lennon demo tape crystal clear, something that was not possible three decades ago when Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr got together to finish a few Lennon demos for The Beatles anthology.
The new track is a success and Paul McCartney talked in an interview with The Times about the reaction of people when they discovered it was a Beatles track. Since it was a secret project, most of the people who were part of the recording proccess were told first that it was a Paul McCartney recording session.
Paul McCartney talks about people’s reaction to new Beatles song
“The sweet is ‘How lucky was I to have those men in my life’,” he explains. “But the fact that they’re not here is bitter. It’s strange when you think about it. There’s John, in his apartment, banging away at a piano doing a demo. And now we’ve restored it and it’s a crystal-clear, beautiful vocal. You still wonder, is it inferior, something we shouldn’t do?”
“But every time I thought that, I thought, Let’s say I had a chance to ask John. And John would have loved it. Of course, I’m never going to know, but I think mine’s the best guess we can have. And now it is a Beatles record. When we played it to people, some cried, some said, ‘Jesus Christ, it’s a Beatles record!’”
“A lot of people were touched by the Beatles – and that feeling still exists,” McCartney adds. “When I remember the Beatles, I remember joy, talent, humour and love. And if people remember us for those things I’d be very happy,” Paul McCartney said.
The official video of the track was directed by the praised director Peter Jackson (Lord of The Rings), who was also the responsible one for the documentary “Get Back” released in 2021.