Philadelphia songwriter, producer, vocalist and saxophonist Max Swan is a plumber and “Paid to Lose” is the song that really embodies the idea of having to fit your music around the reality of earning a living. It was written after his house was completely destroyed by Hurricane Ida and it’s a very serious song about the cost of doing what you love.

Recorded in his brother’s childhood bedroom (where his music first began) it’s a very intimate mix of alt R&B, jazz and soul. Swan’s songwriting is very much in the vein of his saxophone playing with sax and electronic wind instrument being some of his main instruments. The production is very pared back and it really works for a song about being worn down, about sacrifice and the sheer tenacity of someone who will just keep making records through all the upheaval.

There’s something quite affecting about going back into that bedroom as you’re rebuilding your adult life. “Paid to Lose” gets its emotional punch from that very situation and it’s the very specificity of it that gives the familiar theme of perseverance such power. It’s the context of work, of bills and of lost possessions that makes it work.