Title: Guilt
Length: 3:14
Genre: Pop, Electro Pop, Alternative Pop
Label: FREEDOM
Songwriters: Mandy Williams
Producers: Danny Harle


"Guilt" is an official single by recording artist Mandy Williams taken from her long waited album, Electrified. "Guilt" follows Williams' previous single "Truce", which officially marked the return by the songstress after a tumultuous five year period where the singer took a hiatus from music, although she sporadically worked on the album during this period until October 2020, where she began formally scheduling studio sessions contently to finish Electrified. "Guilt" was one of the final songs recorded for the album and truly foreshadows some of the sounds Mandy has began to experiment with as she transcends from former teen-pop songstress, to a mature pop singing songwriter. "Guilt" was written solely by Mandy Williams and features climatic production from electronic producer Danny Harle and uncredited guitar work by former Two Equals Three member Ian Hanson.

The record has a subject of resentment, where Mandy asks "do you even feel the guilt?" over soaring production values and vocals. As one of the final tracks recorded for the album, Williams sees herself be overtly transparent with her feelings toward a past lover. The wonderous vocals and captivating production vocals layered together on "Guilt" easily helmed the track as one of the standouts on Electrified, and was suggested to be one of the future single releases for the album as said by managers at Mandy's current record label. Following Mandy's official return with "Truce", it was ultimately decided that Williams wanted to release "Guilt" as she wanted listeners to truly feel one with her on the record and offer the "rawest" track that she's ever written and recorded. The song steps away from the glistening pop forte of "Truce", but strips it back for raw, deep emotion. "Guilt" takes on genre's such as pop, electronic pop and alternative pop and ties them into a captivating record that is one of the most personal Mandy has ever written.

The recording process of "Guilt" began in November of 2020 during the final sessions of the Electrified album, although the song was written at an earlier date. Over the previous months, Mandy William's had been listening to the atmospheric beats of Bjork, who she felt inspired by during the end of the overall recording for the album. Mandy felt that the song "Guilt" would sound perfect over a track that showed Mandy in a different light, as the album reflects different moods Mandy felt during this five year period between "The Teenage Years" and this new body of work in "Electrified". It was important for the track to truly embrace the resentful lyrics that Mandy felt during this time, and as she continues to heal, she now felt comfortable enough. In late 2020, Mandy met with recording producer Danny Harle who got in the studio to craft up a record that was quite different from the previous tracks she's known for, without straying too far away from what fans know and love her for.

Over a week period, Danny Harle and Mandy worked closely together to craft up a production value that encompasses the resentment of the lyrics but to offer production that allows Mandy's vocals to do the talking. Over the next week the production of "Guilt" was finalized and Mandy recorded the track. In one of the final decisions for the production of the track, heavy guitar chords were added to the track after getting in contact with Ian Hanson, who had been in talks with FREEDOM about a possible recording contract. Mandy and Ian met after the initial track was recorded. Mandy William showed Ian the composition of "Guilt", and showed Ian each of the parts of the record in which she'd want to the guitar chords to go and within the next two days the record was finalized. In terms of the guitars being added to the song, Mandy drew influences from Joshua Grimmie's "SURPRISE", which in she felt the guitars on her own "Guilt" would make the track feel all the more "impactful" just as it did for the latter track. "Guilt" itself features a soft beginning where the lyrics can be fully absorbed as Mandy coos "I didn’t even hear it from you/I guess it’s partly what hurt the most" which easily can be linked to the resentment having to do with a relationship gone wrong, but not having the closure of hearing it from the person itself. The track seems to get bigger as it quickly evolves into a captivating banger that pushes Mandy's soprano register upper reaches as she angelic sings: Let the skies pour rain/On you, on you, on you. In one of the most triumphant and haunting moments of the song aside from Mandy's wonderous vocal runs on the chorus is the final seconds of the song, which are spoken. As the record comes to a close, Mandy says: "Now it's time for me to get off the ground/Dust off the dirt, can't let this push me around" - marking a closing of a chapter that has plagued Mandy for five years. In this song, Mandy Williams allows listeners to experience her resentment all the while letting it all off of her chest as she gets ready to release her long awaited album, Electrified, on January 4th.

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I didn’t even hear it from you
I guess it’s partly what hurt the most
The feeling as you stab my heart
Two pieces that should never fall apart

I just assumed, that we were whole
The smiles were fake, and I didn’t know
I guess you didn’t care, you knew I loved you so

You were so unfaithful
Go and carry all the guilt
Do you even feel it?
The pain that you built?
You left a scar, on my heart, that took five years to heal
You can carry, the pain, let the skies pour rain

Let the skies pour rain,
On you, on you,
Let the skies pour rain
On you, on you, on you

I hope you can never get up
Do you know long it took for me
To gain the courage to leave my bed
And enter a world that seemed so dead

I just assumed, that we were whole
The smiles were fake, and I didn’t know
I guess you didn’t care, you knew I loved you so

You were so unfaithful
Go and carry all the guilt
Do you even feel it?
The pain that you built?
You left a scar, on my heart, that took five years to heal
You can carry, the pain, let the skies pour rain
Let the skies pour rain,
On you, on you,
Let the skies pour rain
On you, on you, on you

Oh I thought was so happy, I was in love
I was over the moon, I was in love
And then you changed it all
You let us crash and fall
You changed it all

You were so unfaithful
Go and carry all the guilt
Do you even feel it?
The pain that you’ve built?
You were so unfaithful
Go and carry all the guilt
Do you even feel it
The pain that you’ve built
You left a scar, on my heart, that took five years to heal
You can carry, the pain, let the skies pour rain

Let the skies pour rain,
On you, on you,
Let the skies pour rain
On you, on you, on you

Spoken:
Now it's time for me to get off the ground
Dust off the dirt, can't let this push me around




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