New Beatles single 'Now and Then' set for release

LONDON - A new Beatles song produced with a little help from artificial intelligence and including the vocals of John Lennon will be released on Thursday, more than four decades after it was originally recorded as a demo.

"Now And Then", first written and sung by Lennon in 1978, was finished by his fellow band members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr -- and AI.

The track will be unveiled at 1400 GMT by Apple Corps, Capitol and Universal Music Enterprises, with a music video debuting on Friday.

McCartney announced the song's release in June, in what has been dubbed in a promotional trailer "the last Beatles song".

"It's quite emotional and we all play on it, it's a genuine Beatles recording," he said in a video on YouTube ahead of the release.

"Now And Then" was one of several tracks on a cassette that Lennon had recorded for McCartney at his home in New York's Dakota Building in 1979 -- a year before his death.

It was given to him by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono in 1994.

Two other songs, "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love", were cleaned up by the producer Jeff Lynne, and released in 1995 and 1996.

An attempt was made to do the same with "Now And Then" but the project was abandoned due to background noise on the demo.

"Now And Then" will be released as a double A-side, with the band's 1962 debut single "Love Me Do", and cover art by US artist Ed Ruscha.