Chicago songwriter Daniel Knox has long been a favorite of WBEZ staff. Back in 2008 we did a feature on his lucky encounter with David Lynch. Then last year we had him perform on Eight Forty-Eight, a gig he almost missed when his flight back from a European tour was delayed.

Since then he’s completed a residency at Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center in New York where he composed a musical accompaniment to the photographs of John Atwood. The work “Black & Whites” was performed by an ensemble of musicians at the 92Y Tribeca in New York City.

Today we’re proud to present the exclusive premiere of Knox’s new single “To Make You Stay.”

It’s a jaunty tune with dark lyrics- a trademark of Knox’s work. Here the jauntiness is ratcheted up a bit by Ralph Carney’s saxophone line. The dark lyrics also probably come off darker than Knox’s actual subject matter. Here’s Knox’s own words about the song:

“To Make You Stay” is the time you give someone the wrong look and become the villain of their story without meaning to.”

This song is now available for download at Daniel Knox’s Bandcamp page. He is on tour now with Rasputina- performing at The Double Door on April 10.