December 2023

photo courtesy Jullian Cauntay

By Jullian Cauntay

           British Rock Band, The Beatles finally released their highly anticipated ‘final’ song. As was speculated by devoted fans, the recording is a completed version of the love song “Now and Then” written by the late John Lennon. The song was first teased by Paul Mccartney last June on BBC 4 Radio. 

           Giles Martin, who co-produced “Now and Then” explains that the song had been stuck in production limbo for a long time due to the cassette tape’s poor quality. He explained that the original audio had Lennon playing the piano with the sound of his TV audible in the background. “That’s part of this technology – we could now extract John from the piano and from the television” Martin comments on how this was made possible. After isolating Lennon’s vocals, the crew worked together to replicate the late George Harrison’s guitar arrangements, while Ringo Starr re-recorded the drums for the song. 

            Producers were well aware of the possible barrage of criticism they would receive from long-time Beatles fans, as well as questions on the ethical use of AI. But Martin says that the use of such technology was essential to bringing out a ‘new vibrancy’ to the band’s recordings. "It was important to me that the changes we made were authentic ... Paul said, you know, we need to follow George's rhythm. It was really interesting how he worked. It was like, we need to concentrate on The Beatles and what they're doing, like they're in the room,". Martin stated that the authenticity of the recording came from Mccartney’s heart and his desire to work with Lennon again, saying that the song itself almost felt like a love letter from John to Paul. 🐾