New Beatles Song Coming... Lennon’s Voice Extracted from Tape Using AI

Voice Extracted from Tape Left by John Lennon
Possible 'Now and Then' Composed in 1978

The Beatles are set to release a new song for the first time in 27 years with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).

According to the BBC on the 13th (local time), Beatles member Paul McCartney stated, "With the help of AI technology, we have created 'The Beatles' Last Record.'"

McCartney said, "We recently finished the work and plan to release it this year." He explained that last year he received a past demo tape from John Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono, and extracted Lennon's voice from it using AI.

He said, "We had Lennon's vocal and instrumental recordings, and AI allowed us to separate them," adding, "Then we could mix the record as usual."

At the same time, he acknowledged fans' concerns about the AI-reconstructed song. He said, "It's scary, but since this is our future, it's also exciting," and added, "We have to see how things unfold."

Although McCartney did not directly reveal the song title, the BBC reported that the new song is likely "Now And Then," composed by Lennon in 1978. "Now And Then" is also known as a track considered as a "reunion song" during the editing of The Beatles' greatest hits album in 1995.

In a past magazine interview, McCartney said about this song, "George Harrison refused to work on the song, saying the vocals were terrible." He added, "The title wasn't very good either, and it needed some polishing, but it had beautiful lyrics, and Lennon sang it." However, he added, "We were democratic, so we decided not to record it based on Harrison's opinion."

Surviving Beatles members Ringo Starr (left) and Paul McCartney (right).
[Image source=Yonhap News]

This will be the first new song released by The Beatles in 27 years since 1996.

The Beatles created a new song called "Free As A Bird" in 1995 using an unfinished track recorded by Lennon in the late 1970s.

At that time, technology made it impossible to extract Lennon's voice alone from the mono tape recorded with piano accompaniment, so the new song was produced by overlaying the surviving Beatles members' performances onto the demo tape.

The following year, they released another song called "Real Love" using the same method.

Meanwhile, the legendary British rock band The Beatles was formed in 1960 and disbanded in April 1970. Lennon was shot and killed by an obsessed fan while returning home to his residence in New York, USA, in December 1980. Harrison passed away from lung cancer in 2001. Currently, only McCartney and drummer Ringo Starr are still alive.

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