(Photo by Michael Webb/Getty Images)
UPDATE 11/2: The AI-enhanced track is now streaming, as is a documentary the band released yesterday about “Now and Then."
Original Story:Next week, The Beatles—yes, the legendary rock band from the 1960s—will be back with their first new song in decades, thanks to an AI algorithm.
Remaining band members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr made the announcement today; the song, dubbed “Now and Then,” arrives on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 10 a.m. EST.
The chances of a new Beatles song faded after John Lennon’s death over 40 years ago. But before his murder, Lennon recorded a demo for "Now and Then" with vocals and piano. His wife, Yoko Ono Lennon, then gave the demo to band members in 1994.
“At the same time, Paul, George (Harrison) and Ringo also recorded new parts and completed a rough mix for ‘Now And Then’ with producer Jeff Lynne,” the group said in a press release. “At that point, technological limitations prevented John’s vocals and piano from being separated to achieve the clear, unclouded mix needed to finish the song.”
As a result, the group shelved the project for more than 25 years. It wasn’t until 2021 when film director Peter Jackson released the documentary The Beatles: Get Back that work on “Now and Then” was revived.
The documentary relied on unused footage from the band’s rehearsals in 1969. To improve the audio quality, Jackson's team created a “machine learning system” that allowed them to de-mix the mono soundtrack of the original footage.
It’s unclear how WingNut Films’ MAL audio technology works. But in a video, Jackson implied the system was trained to replicate the voices of the various Beatles members to fill in gaps in the original audio recordings.
"So we can take all these mono tracks, and split up all the instruments, and just hear the vocals, the guitars," he said. "That allows us to remix it really cleanly.”
Jackson and his team realized they could apply the same technology to Lennon’s original demo for “Now and Then,” allowing them to separate his vocals from his piano-playing and provide better clarity to his voice performance.
“In 2022, Paul and Ringo set about completing the song,” the group added. “Besides John’s vocal, ‘Now And Then’ includes electric and acoustic guitar recorded in 1995 by George, Ringo’s new drum part, and bass, guitar and piano from Paul, which matches John’s original playing.”
The result promises to create an authentic Beatles record—as opposed to AI technology cloning Lennon’s voice to sing whatever the music producer wants.
"There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear. It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it, it’s a genuine Beatles recording," McCartney said.
“It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room, so it was very emotional for all of us,” Starr added.
The band is now hailing “Now and Then” as the last Beatles song. A 12-minute documentary about creating the tune will be released on Nov. 1 on The Beatles’ YouTube channel.
The Beatles also recorded songs with Lennon's other demos to produce "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love," which were released in 1995.