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Photo:  Oskar Theriault

Swansea Skag pulls no punches when it comes to laying his story bare on his debut EP, you'll be dead before you know it. For all who are willing to listen, Mason Stover, the artist behind Swansea Skag, passionately channels trauma, mistakes, and recovery into his music. "The opposite of addiction is connection," Mason confesses, reflecting on lessons learned through his journey of overcoming addiction.  

It's a rare form of honesty reflected so explicitly in Swansea Skag's you'll be dead before you know it. It's experimental, it's raw, and it's refreshingly authentic. It's a gut-wrenching illustration of vulnerability through music.

His single "I heard you bought a gun" is the best representation of this honest self-reflection displayed throughout the EP. "I sound real funny when I talk / I feel real funny when I walk /Scum from my bottom to my top / I wish I knew how to make it stop," sings Mason.

All our journeys are different, but all of us have moments of self-doubt. We may not all have shared experiences, but the emotions and internal struggles attached to them are very real and immensely universal. The reality is that no matter what you are going through, you are not alone. This is the connection that is opposite addiction, and this truth is evident in you'll be dead before you know it. We can all be grateful for Swansea Skag's willingness to tell his story through music in a way that makes our hardships feel seen too.

Listen to you'll be dead before you know it below: