Julian Lennon Almost Skipped 'Get Back' Screening, But Went 'as a Team' with 'Best Mate' Sean Lennon

Julian Lennon had no interest in seeing a screening of Get Back. As the son of Beatle John Lennon, he'd been to plenty of Beatles-related events in the past, and they often left a sour taste, with people eyeing him all night hoping to gauge a reaction.

"I was like, 'I don't need to do that,'" he tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. "But [brother] Sean was adamant and felt committed, and we were both in L.A.… so I said, 'Listen, I'll go with you. Let's go together, let's go as a team.' And it was great to do that."

For Julian, who will release his seventh studio album Jude on Friday, putting on a united front with "best mate" Sean, 46, is an everyday occurrence. The star says the pair speak often, bonding over everything from music and food to exercise and photography (Julian was born to John and first wife Cynthia, while Sean's mom is the "Imagine" singer's second wife, Yoko Ono).

"We're brothers and we love each other deeply on that level," he says. "We just talk daily, same as anybody would."

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Rich Fury/Getty Julian Lennon and Sean Ono Lennon

When they decided to take on the Get Back screening together, the experience wound up being a positive one. The pair watched a special 100-minute version of Peter Jackson's documentary that included narration from the director himself, which the musician says the brothers "reveled in."

"We loved it," he says. "Being in the picture, [Jackson] actually took the edge off watching the film, because I was very nervous about it. But he made a few jokes and he was quite funny, and it made us able to enjoy the film."

Get Back, which came out in November, chronicles the Beatles' preparations for a rooftop concert on London's Savile Row in January 1969, which would turn out to be their last performance ever.

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Robert Ascroft Julian Lennon

Though initially hesitant, Julian found that the film helped connect him with his father, who died in 1980 at age 40, in ways he hadn't expected.

"I remembered him as a kid—goofy, funny, sarcastic, charming," he says. "I fell in love with him again because that was the guy I remember before it all went pear-shaped."

Get Back also got him thinking about that specific time period in his life, during which Paul McCartney wrote the song "Hey Jude" as a means of consoling the young Jules amid his parents' divorce.

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Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG/Getty Sean Ono Lennon and Julian Lennon

He'd long had mixed feelings about the song due to the associated memories, but as he reconnected with his past, the added benefit of time helped him see things in a new light. With that in mind, he felt moved to name his new album Jude.

"It reminded me of Jude again and what that all meant and the effect that it had on me and my mother way back then," he says. "So it was about taking the weight of the world off your shoulders and finding peace and love and happiness in your life."

He continues: "I feel that I've found part of that in this process… and refocusing on me and finding out who I am."