“I think of this app as a 21st century record album.” that’s what Michael Epstein told The Wall Street Journal about the app he directed with digital artist Mark Thompson.

That app, “John Lennon: The Bermuda Tapes” was built around four hours worth of demo recordings, interviews, and interactive features all surrounding a trip that Lennon took to Bermuda just before his death in 1980.

Lennon had already become a family man. He, Yoko Ono and their son Sean were living in New York City. It had been five years since Lennon’s previous solo album and he had settled into a domestic life. Lennon had taken a liking to boating, reports the WSJ. About six months before his death he set out on a sailing voyage from Newport Rhode Island to Bermuda. The story goes that during the voyage the boat hit a violent storm. Crew members became seasick and at one point Lennon himself had to steer the ship back to safety.

Lennon seemed to get inspired by the trip at sea and was able to get part of his “rock star” back that would really shine through on his final album “Double Fantasy” that he recorded with Ono. During the trip he also began to find new music like the B52’s “Rock Lobster”.

Epstein and Thompson were able to procure demo recordings from that time along with candid interviews with sea men that were on the boat with Lennon. Demo recordings of “Woman” and “Starting Over’ are among the audio clips that play on  a virtual cassette tape on the apps screen. There is also commentary on the app from producer Jack Douglas and a photo gallery of Lennon on the yacht.

One of the interactive features allows you to drive the yacht, called the Megan Dye, and listen to the story of the voyage told by crew members and Lennon himself.

The development costs of the app were covered by producer Andrew Banks. The recordings were donated by Yoko Ono. The entire cost of the app, $4.99, all goes to WhyHunger a non profit organization.

You can download the app from the iTunes app store here.