With all the hoopla around “Now and Then” — which has been erroneously described as the legendary group’s “first new Beatles song in 50 years” — some reality-checking is in order. Yes, it is a “new” Beatles song in that all four members, including the late John Lennon and George Harrison, play and sing on a previously unreleased composition. “Now and Then” has a similar provenance to “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love,” the other two “new” Beatles songs to have been released since 1970: All are rough Lennon home demos recorded during the late 1970s and provided by his wife Yoko Ono in 1994 for the surviving members to complete.

The songs were intended for the three-volume “Beatles Anthology” outtakes collection (and accompanying long-form video) released in 1995 and ’96. The other two songs were completed and released on Vols. 1 and 2, but Vol. 3 was issued without one: Although the surviving members at the time — Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Harrison — recorded instrumental backings for “Now and Then,” they were unable to finish it satisfactorily due to Lennon’s piano drowning out his voice in places on the demo.

However, with the use of AI technology, it was possible to isolate Lennon’s vocals. And last year McCartney and others finished the song, leaving only Lennon’s original vocal and Harrison’s 1994 guitar tracks. Thus, this “new” Beatles song was recorded in three separate segments, across 45-odd years.

So that’s the how and why; the real — unfair — question is whether the song comes close to measuring up to the Beatles or their collective solo works’ towering legacy. Of course it doesn’t, but it’s still an unexpected pleasure that marks the completion of the group’s last bit of unfinished business.