Using a scratchy demo tape made when John Lennon had left The Beatles, the world’s most famous band are set to release a new, never-heard-before song, aided by artificial intelligence to improve the voice quality, and bring the voice back to life.
The song from John Lennon entitled Now and Then, was written in 1978, but never finished or released, as Lennon was murdered in 1980.
Paul McCartney confirmed the news this week, telling the BBC: “We just finished it up and it’ll be released this year”.
For Beatles fans, it will be a revelation and also maybe a controversial use of technology, relying on AI’s ability to help separate voices from instrumentation, as the example in this case.
From the BBC’s interview:
“He [Jackson] was able to extricate John’s voice from a ropey little bit of cassette,” Sir Paul told Radio 4’s Martha Kearney.
“We had John’s voice and a piano and he could separate them with AI. They tell the machine, ‘That’s the voice. This is a guitar. Lose the guitar’.
“So when we came to to make what will be the last Beatles’ record, it was a demo that John had [and] we were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI.
“Then we can mix the record, as you would normally do. So it gives you some sort of leeway.”
Expect to hear the new Beatles’ single this year, expanding the catalog of the best selling band of all time.
