As soon as I listened to “Best of the Bees” the first time, I immediately listened to it again, and then I listened to it a third time. It’s that good. The Mansions is Christopher Browder, a 25 year-old singer-songwriter from Louisville, KY: a boy and his guitar and a whole lot to get off his chest.

“Best of the Bees” is ‘a collection of the best non-album tracks we (The Mansions) released in 2008-2009.’” The album showcases Browder’s diversity in his songwriting and musicianship; writing every song and playing all the instruments (on the recording, but he does tour with a live band).

The underlying themes in “Best of the Bees” are of heartbreak, unconditional love (“Let’s Be Sad Together”), hypocrisy, and betrayal (mostly by friends). Geez, he’s only 25, I hope life gets better. Most artists that try to bare their soul like that either come across as whiny or pretentious, but not Christopher. He gets you to identify with him. We’ve all had friendships that didn’t last or took a wrong turn. These songs make you say, “yeah, I’ve been there and it sucks.” Nothing feels “put on” or apologetic, or forced. Mr. Browder just wants to share his life experiences with anyone who is willing to listen. If that’s you, great. If not, maybe the next person.

The Mansions blog is also worth a look for sheer entertainment value as are their videos on YouTube. I will certainly keep an eye out for a Mansions show in the future. For more information, The Mansions can be found on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and their official site www.thisismansions.com.

“Best of the Bees” can be downloaded from Bandcamp (with a pay-what-you-can feature): http://mansions.bandcamp.com/ and iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/omg/id350050393.