They called it a day nearly 40 years ago, but The Beatles have a deep vault from which to mine fresh material. The latest unearthed gem: “Carnival of Light”, a funky 14-minute free-form piece from 1967 that Paul McCartney hopes to release into the wild, finally:

The band played the recording for an audience just once, at an electronic music festival in London. It reportedly includes distorted guitar, organ sounds, gargling and shouts of “Barcelona!” and “Are you all right?” from McCartney and John Lennon.

McCartney said during a recording session at Abbey Road studios he asked the other members of the band to “just wander round all of the stuff and bang it, shout, play it. It doesn’t need to make any sense.”…

McCartney, usually regarded as the most melodically minded Beatle, told the BBC he had a long-standing interest in avant-garde music. He said Carnival of Light was inspired by experimental composers John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

Whether or not this gets out is up in the air; apparently the other band members (and their estates) have vetoed its release before. In fact, I’m guessing McCartney’s announcement via the media is his way to put public pressure upon the other Beatles interests to accede to his wishes.