In 1995, it was thought that "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love," from the first two volumes of Anthology, respectively, would be the last Beatles records ever released. After all, what "Beatles" tune could follow recordings that grafted
demos of John Lennon singing onto new tracks recorded by Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr?
And yet, McCartney has completed what he calls a new Beatles track, which he will release as part of The Liverpool Sound Collage, an extended piece he recorded for an exhibition of the work of Sgt. Pepper album cover art creator Peter Blake titled About Collage, currently at the Tate Liverpool gallery. The Liverpool Sound Collage will be released as an album on August 29, while the 30-minute "dance track" "Free Now," which McCartney describes as "manic," has already been serviced to British DJs.
"It's a new little piece of the Beatles," McCartney told Britain's Sun newspaper at a press conference on Tuesday, August 15. "'Free Now' is an outbreak from my normal stuff. It's a little side dish that is not to be confused with my other work. It's more underground than what you usually hear from me, but I like to be free enough to do this sort of thing."
Maybe "Free Now" is best understood as a collaboration between McCartney and the Welsh experimental rock band Super Furry Animals. The track was produced by ex-Killing Joke bassist and McCartney chum Youth, who uses outtakes from various Beatles sessions from 1965 to 1969: guitar parts, drum parts, and all four Fabs bulling.
"I asked Cian Ciaran [of Super Furry Animals] to mix something from it, which he kindly did, and my mate Youth used his talents to add a final touch," Sir Paul said.
Most notably, the track employs conversation taped in the studio between Lennon and McCartney. "OK, Paul, you ready, boy? This is it," John says, to which Paul responds, "I feel it, I feel free now, free now."
Furry Gruff Rhys explained to dotmusic.com the background of "Free Now." Bandmate, keyboardist, and sample boffin Ciaran met McCartney at the NME Awards and discussed the possibility of remixing McCartney's tapes. "Next thing, a box of tapes turned up from the Apple Corporation. The letter said, 'This contains previously unreleased Beatles material. Do not copy, use, broadcast, or sell down the market.' It was quite heavy.
"Our brief was to make a 20-minute sound piece," Rhys continued, "using only the stuff that was posted down. It's like an album in itself. Something like DJ Shadow. All made out of other people's stuff.
"There's George on guitars, Ringo on drums, with vocals taken from conversations between Paul and John in the studio. I think the only people to remix the Beatles before were Phil Spector and Jeff Lynne, so we're really honored."
The rest of Liverpool Sound Collage is largely made up of sounds recorded by McCartney around his native Liverpool, such as local shoppers, students at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (which McCartney helped establish), his soundcheck at last year's Cavern Club performance, excerpts from his own classical piece "Liverpool Oratorio," and comment from "the lady who gets my [fish and] chips when I'm back in The Pool," as the richest musician on Earth put it in a press release.
The Liverpool Sound Collage also includes McCartney and Beatles-free tracks from Super Furry Animals ("Peter Blake 2000") and Youth ("Real Gone Dub Made Manifest in the Vortex of the Eternal Now").
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