In an age of digital singles and streaming over Spotify, who would create a concept album? Why would a band record sixteen songs that are meant to be listened to consecutively, taking the time to give each a catchy tune, thoughtful arrangement, lyrics that pierce the soul, and details that reveal themselves slowly, over repeated listenings - so the songs are better the thirtieth time than the third? Plus a story about saving a doomed love affair? Yet this is what Onward Chariots have done on their first full-length record, "This is My Confession." The songs chronicle one man's struggle with what it is to love, from babyhood to adolescent crushes to failed relationships. Musical styles range from lushly arranged indie pop to garage rock to orchestral minimalism and cheesy dance-pop. There's even a song about Mel Gibson. The band posted their first songs online in the spring of 2009, and it didnʼt take long for the music to spread around the world. Blogs from Italy to Brazil praised their intricate melodies, luminous vocal harmonies, and scintillating guitars. The songs were played on radio stations from Greece to Indonesia and featured on compilations from the U.S. to Norway. They played Englandʼs Indietracks Festival, Athens PopFest, and Popfest New England, toured Europe twice, released a single on fabled Spanish indie-pop label Elefant Records, and starred in a hit stop-motion video. Singer-songwriter Ben Morss has played with bands like Cake and Wheatus. His poppy punk band, The Pilgrims, charted on college radio stations across the U.S., and he co-wrote two musicals based on the Angelina Ballerina book and TV series. He’s currently working on a rock musical about anarchists. Guitarist Shawn Setaro has played and recorded with the Dresden Dolls, Taking Back Sunday, Bob D’Amico (Fiery Furnaces, Sebadoh), Martin Bisi (producer, Sonic Youth), Sarah Bowman (Rasputina), The Lordz, and Alina Simone, and more. "I think I have found a new favourite band, a band that has such an effect on me that I want to listen to their songs over and over again and I still want more. Ben Morssʼ songs are full of interesting arrangement-details and it is easy to hear that these songs are made with care and planning, and with a heart that probably beats for music both from our time and from some decades back. I want more! Canʼt get enough of this music…" -- Eardrums (Norway) "One of the summer's most blogged-about bands... in that nice hopeful stage of possibly exploding on a global level: everything seems to be going the right way so far." -- Kalporz (Italy)