It is 2023 and The Beatles are back with a brand new track. 'Now And Then' has been released today and is billed as the last song from the Fab Four. Spoiler alert, it is fantastic, a poignant ballad about missing old friends which is heartbreaking and strangely fitting.
The track started as a demo on an old cassette and was originally meant to be the final song in the trilogy of tracks rereleased in the mid-90s along with 'Free As A Bird' and 'Real Love' but, using the tools available, they couldn't extract John Lennon's vocals so it was abandoned.
Almost 20 years later, technology has advanced so much that filmmaker Peter Jackson was able to use the same techniques applied to his documentary 'The Beatles: Get Back' to extract Lennon's vocals allowing Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr to add bass and drums to create a brand new song.
George Harrison features on rhythm guitar from the 90s sessions and McCartney has added a slide-guitar solo very much in his style. An orchestral backing was recorded in secret under the guise of a McCartney solo record so not even the performers knew about the project.
Put together, this sounds like it was recorded by four men in a room together. You literally can't hear the joins between brand new drums and bass, a 20-year-old rhythm guitar and a vocal salvaged from an old tape, it is unbelievable from a technical point of view.
Don't take my word for it, make your own mind up, click on the blue image above to listen to the track and the white image above that to watch the short film about the creation of the song (well worth a watch).
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