They parted as unfriended in 1970, and two of them have been dead for several decades. Nevertheless, The Beatles released new music on Thursday. The music is now out on various music streaming services such as Spotify, but from tomorrow you can listen to the song for free on YouTube. – When we were going to make what will be the last Beatles release, it was John’s test recording that we worked with, said Paul McCartney on BBC Radio this summer. “Now And Then” was completed by McCartney himself, together with Ringo Starr. But The Beatles can also thank artificial intelligence for making it possible. “Now And Then” was released on Thursday. Paul McCartney says it will be the band’s last song. Photo: Ap/Apple Cassettes in the forgotten drawer We will first go back to the seventies. John Lennon is at the end of his life, but doesn’t know it yet.He sits at the piano in his apartment in New York. John Lennon at the end of his life. Photo: Ap The result of the piano tinkering is a test recording – two cassettes with songs. In 1980, Lennon was shot and killed on the open street. The cassettes lie in the forgotten drawer of his widow Yoko Ono for a long time – before one day in the nineties she passes them on to Paul McCartney. John’s widow Yoko Ono sat on the tapes for a long time. Photo: STEVE SANDS / AP – Garbage The remaining band members immediately notice that they want to dust off the songs – and release them. They start with “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love”. But the last song is very scrappy. Nevertheless, they make an honorable attempt – George Harrison even records a guitar riff. In the end, they find themselves forced to “let it be”. The recording is too bad. In addition, Harrison calls the song “damn rubbish”. George Harrison put his foot down for the song in the nineties. Photo: DAVE THOMSON / AP Used artificial intelligence But over 20 years later, the technology suddenly opens a door. – We could take out John’s vote with KI. So we could mix the song as we would normally do, says McCartney in the BBC Radio interview from this summer. He quickly gets Ringo Starr on board with the idea: – Paul called me and said he wanted to work on “Now And Then”. He played bass, and I played drums, says Starr in the trailer for the song. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr collaborated to finish the song. Photo: Reuters According to Beatles expert Bård Ose, the use of AI is completely in the spirit of the band. – If there was anything the Beatles liked, it was experimenting, he says. Bård Ose has made both a book and a podcast about The Beatles. Photo: Gorm Kallestad / SCANPIX Already at Revolver they started doing “things you shouldn’t actually do”. – Backward tapes and things like that, many thought it was cheating, explains Ose. The observant listener will perhaps hear bits of Revolver in the new song: The Beatles have re-used choruses from both “Eleanor Rigby” and “Here, There And Everywhere” – and also the song “Because”. Details from older Beatles songs reappear. Photo: Martin Wahlborg / Getty Images – I think we will get many more examples like this Alexander Refsum Jensenius is professor of music technology at UiO. He explains that the industry has always been preoccupied with improving the quality of older recordings. – But I think we will get many more such cases in the future. Those who sit on recordings of various kinds will probably use this type of technology to get the most out of it, he says. He points out that even if you can spend more with today’s technology, you don’t always have to. Alexander Refsum Jensenius is professor of music technology. Photo: annica Thomsson – Some things may be reasons why they have not been published earlier, says Jensenius, and points to ethical and legal challenges. The professor still does not think the use of AI is a problem in this case. – Here, the starting point is a recording that has been made, he says. Bård Ose agrees: – I see nothing wrong with the remaining members completing something that the others have started. – What do you think John Lennon would have said about this invention if he were alive? – I think he would have been surprised. And maybe he would have been a little flattered. John Lennon would have been flattered by Paul McCartney’s invention, believes Bård Ose. Photo: Ap
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Beatles with new song – news Culture and entertainment
