This past weekend, Float Along Festival returned to Sheffield city centre for its 5th consecutive year, bringing a day packed full of some of the best up-and-coming post-punk, psychedelic rock, and indie talent.

While listening to someone close to her talk to their mother about their difficult relationship, a phrase that came up during the conversation stuck with Frank: “I feel like we’re in this state of limbo.” That moment gave rise to “IN LIMBO,” a song portraying two people seeking a healthy connection yet unable to ignore the reality of their circumstances. That balance between loving someone and accepting that things aren’t working out as expected became the central theme of her entire new EP, BACKBONE.

For Karin Ann, Orion began with a little uncertainty. Her first feature film would not only introduce her to acting, but would also ask her to create music for a story that she was simultaneously becoming part of. She would play Morgan, work alongside actors she had grown up watching, and write songs inspired by the characters and world of the film. It was, understandably, a lot to take on at once.

For Nyathigi Gatere, better known as tg.blk, making music started with a laptop, a stack of YouTube beats and very little expectation that anyone would ever hear the results. Anonymity was part of the appeal. So was the freedom that came with it: no public image to maintain, no expectations to meet, no audience waiting to judge the next move.

Her latest single, gutspill, is the sound of someone finally deciding that maybe overthinking everything is exhausting. Built from shimmering synths, organic drums, Midwest-emo guitars and layered vocals, the track finds Shadows stepping into a brighter, more playful corner of her songwriting — without abandoning the melancholy that has always lived underneath it.

Manny Moura Is Learning to Live With the Mess. On anxiety, comparison, changing her appearance, the strange beauty of a crowd, and turning a difficult year into “Product of a Panic Attack.”