Barely 24 hours after debuting their new single, “Now and Then,” The Beatles are back with the track’s video.
The clip, directed by Peter Jackson, features archival footage of John Lennon and the band, clips of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison in the recording studio in the ’90s, and current footage of Paul and Ringo.
There are even clips that blend the archival and current footage to make it feel like the whole band is playing together and with younger versions of themselves.
According to Jackson, the video features “a collection of unseen outtakes in the vault, where the Beatles are relaxed, funny and rather candid.” He adds, “We wove humour into some footage shot in 2023. The result is pretty nutty and provided the video with much needed balance between the sad and the funny.”
Finally, he notes, “I realised we needed the imagination of every viewer to create their own personal moment of farewell to The Beatles.”
“Now and Then” uses vocals Lennon recorded on a demo in the late ’70s. Jackson developed new technology to isolate Lennon’s instruments and vocals, and Paul and Ringo completed the song in 2022, using guitar parts Harrison recorded in the ’90s during the sessions for their Anthology series.
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