Paul McCartney has announced that a “final” Beatles song, with vocals from the late John Lennon, is set to be released this year, thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence technology.
During a Tuesday broadcast on BBC Radio 4, McCartney didn’t specify the track’s title, but mentioned that AI was applied to “a demo that John had, that we worked on.”
“When we started to produce what would become the final Beatles record… we managed to isolate John’s voice through this AI, which then allowed us to mix the record as usual,” the 80-year-old singer-songwriter stated.
“We just wrapped it up, and it’s scheduled for release this year.”
The BBC suggested in an online piece that the likely song is “Now and Then,” a demo track recorded by Lennon in 1978, two years before his tragic death in 1980.
Director Peter Jackson had previously leveraged the same technology for the 2021 documentary series “The Beatles: Get Back,” which explored the creation of the Beatles’ 1970 album “Let It Be,” McCartney noted.
“He managed to extract John’s voice from a mediocre quality cassette recording,” McCartney explained. “With John’s voice and a piano track, he could separate them using AI.”
The application of AI in music has generated a mix of anticipation and concern over the potential implications of this technology.
Regarding the topic, McCartney expressed, “It’s a fascinating matter… something we’re all sort of navigating and trying to handle at the moment.”
He added, “There’s a beneficial aspect, and then there’s a daunting side, and we’ll just have to wait and see where that takes us.”
This groundbreaking use of AI in music production is bound to reignite debates over the ethical implications and the preservation of artistic integrity in the digital age. As the music industry increasingly explores the potential of artificial intelligence, it will be interesting to observe where this intersection of technology and creativity leads us. As McCartney suggested, the journey promises to be exciting and somewhat daunting. Nevertheless, for Beatles fans, the forthcoming song is a chance to experience a new piece from the legendary band, made possible by the magic of AI, and no doubt will be eagerly anticipated.
