Re- Generation: Council Of The Raven’s ‘13th Generation’

A new name, a new sound, and a new collaborator has led to the release of the new version of 13th Generation, Marvey Mills tells We Are Cult’s Ange Chan.

Council of the Raven is the new music project of Marvey Mills, featuring occasional collaborations with other artists, and possibly the odd solo effort from time to time. 13th Generation is the debut single from the band, and it took a huge leap of faith the get the track, and the video, out into the public eye.  Sheer determination played a big part, with the extreme desire to see the track, which had been lingering around unfinished for two decades, to be finally completed and given the treatment that it always deserved.

Some tracks take a long time to see the cold light of day, but Council of the Raven’s 13th Generation has had a twenty-year incubation period.  Originally written back at the turn of the Millennium, with words from friend and collaborator Will Wilson, band instigator and lead vocalist Marvey Mills said of the track “I had a recent yearning to redo this song, which has kickstarted my return to making music. Twenty years ago, the key melody immediately sprang to mind, and I recorded it under the name FBF. But I didn’t do a very inspiring job with it and spent the intervening years wanting to have another go at it. I was aiming for a more epic sound with some real instruments in there.”

Fast forward to last year, when Marvey was driving to the supermarket listening to music in his car.  The original incarnation of the track started playing and he decided at that moment to acquire some decent kit and give 13th Generation another serious go of fashioning it into something more viable.

Since 2001 his musical tastes have changed in the intervening years.  Marvey is a gig photographer these days (Marvellous Gig Photography) and it was through taking photographs at gigs, that gave him opportunities to make friends and acquaintances in the folk-punk music scene.  He called on some contacts, and they agreed to help him out with his plan.

Marvey went on to say “Marcus Carter, drummer with The Newcranes (90s folk rock legends) who also runs his own drum school in Sweden, is current trying to build his session work and is actively looking for touring bands with whom to play at the moment, so he was happy to assist as a way of adding original content to his growing portfolio.

Mark Simpson, lead and rhythm guitars for The Newcranes and ex-The Beekeepers also waded in with much-needed axe work. Mark plays bass, rhythm AND lead guitar on 13th Generation! It was amazing to work with real humans instead of synths and samplers and I found it a creative and joyful experience.”

“A new name, a new sound, and a collaboration has finally led to the release of the new version of 13th Generation. It was a heavy learning curve to pick back up with computer-based recording systems and soft-synths. Contrary to my first outing as FBF, not one single hardware synth was used this time. It’s a whole new world!”

“Of course, in these days of social media it had to be accompanied by a video and that gave me and the boys the chance to ham it up a bit. The arcane art of putting a video together proved yet another learning challenge but I am very proud of the new track and the video, especially as a first release for Council of the Raven. They are not perfect, but in my humble opinion, they are good and I’m looking forward to completing the B-side.”

But what about the track itself?  Sounding like a crossover between a call to arms for the dissolute, and being part of an exclusive organisation, 13th Generation commands you to listen, and take in its strong instruction. What started out as a synth track, has now been given a folk punk treatment and has been taken into darker territories by the robust lead guitars and equally excellent drumming capability.  It’s impactful both musically and vocally.

So, what’s next for Council of the Raven?  Marvey plans to move on to his next collaboration track soon, which will also include a bona fide ‘80s chart success.  We will track their progress with interest!


’13th Generation by Council of the Raven’ received its You Tube streaming premiere on the evening of 21st February 2022. Contact Council of the Raven via Facebook: Council of the Raven | Facebook or email: counciloftheraven@gmail.com

 Ange Chan is a Freelance Writer, having produced two novels and six volumes of poetry. A prominent contributor to Me and the Starman (available by Cult Ink on Amazon) and lifelong lover of music, Ange is also We Are Cult’s Social Media Administrator.

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