The last “new” Beatles song, “Now and Then,” was released on Thursday, 60 years after the onset of Beatlemania.
The fresh release features the voices of all four original Beatles performers, with surviving members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr essentially finishing what was initially an old demo recording by John Lennon. The track draws in many ways on group’s signature style and features emotional chorus where, together, McCartney and Lennon’s voices sing, “I miss you.”
The original “Now and Then,” recorded by Lennon more than 40 years ago, came from the same group of demo recordings that his former bandmates used to create the songs “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” in the mid-90s.
Written by Lennon in 1978 and and completed by McCartney and Starr last year, “Now and Then” also features sounds by the band’s late guitarist George Harrison, using pieces of one of his studio recordings from 1995. McCartney also added a new string guitar part with help from Giles Martin, the son of the late Beatles producer George Martin, the Associated Press reported last month.
“Now and Then,” in part, used artificial intelligence to separate out Lennon’s original vocals before incorporating McCartney and Starr’s musical additions in the studio last year. A short documentary film chronicling the making of “Now and Then” was released Wednesday on The Beatles’ official YouTube channel.
After all the buildup and excitement to the release, listen to the NEWEST Beatles song, “Now and Then,” here.
