By profession a junior doctor in Tāmaki Makaurau, navigating hospital corridors and clinical decisions – by passion Liv Beckett is an alt-pop artist, blending neo-soul with R&B, who has announced herself with a crafted seven-song debut EP called ‘Let Go’, released mid-February 2026. Developing the compositions with producer/musician/vocalist Baz Suamili (Seva Hifi) Beckett found inspiration from the likes of Olivia Dean, Billie Eilish and Kimbra.
The result is a slick, smooth-paced EP of moody synthscapes and emotional vulnerability. Beckett’s choir-trained singing fuses ethereal melodies with layered harmonies and an indie sense, her lyrics directly exploring the tension between professionalism and personhood. She chose the sonically edgy figure it out to discuss in this deep-dive NZM My Song feature.
Figure it out features Baz Suamili and is the second track of my debut EP, ‘Let Go’. The best way to describe the EP coming about is by chance. I had just graduated university and was working fulltime as a junior doctor, when I felt there was a big part of my life missing. I went online and started searching for bands in Auckland looking for a singer, which is how I stumbled across a post on an online forum.
The drummer in the band turned out to be Baz Suamili, who is also a producer, and after performing with the band a few times he asked if I wanted to work on a song together. The first song we worked on was playa, (the EP’s first track) back in April 2025. Baz loved the vibe of so much he suggested working together on some more tracks, which ultimately became my debut release ‘Let Go’.
figure it out was the third song I wrote for the EP, and it started much like all the others. After being sent the track by Baz I would listen to it on repeat for a few days as I went about my day, and soon a melody line would come to me, followed shortly by lyrics. I remember writing most of the lyrics to figure it out in the carpark at the gym after work, and subsequently while on the treadmill at the gym. (I definitely got some crazy looks, but when I’m in the zone, I have to lock in!)
As soon as I got home, I recorded the whole song into Garageband and sent it back to my producer, Baz. He immediately fell in love with this song, and I think that’s because the messaging behind the song is something a lot of people can relate to.
People doing music often have two jobs as it’s such a difficult career to sustain doing original music alone. Being in my mid 20s, just finished studying hard for six years, and then going straight into working fulltime felt like a big reality check; ‘Oh wait, this is what I have to do for the rest of my life?’ That thought speaks to the lyric, “back to reality now, that’s what I gotta figure out, got another 40 years of this, and then the lights go down.”
It’s not that I don’t enjoy my job, but it’s more about the journey of finding a lifestyle where I can balance work and my personal life, because I am definitely a person who has a lot of hobbies, and enjoys my time outside of work.
Being a junior doctor takes up a lot of your time, for example some weeks we work 10 days in a row, including 3 x 15-hour shifts during that time. We get four days off at the beginning or end of this 10 day stretch, but sometimes that four days is just used for recovery and doing life admin, like washing, shopping, cleaning – rather than enjoying any sense of time off. To that end, sometimes life can feel like groundhog day, and I think this song plays into the fantasy of having complete freedom to spend your time doing whatever you want…
From that first recording, the production of the song didn’t change much. I added some harmonies into the chorus, and then Baz jumped in with a lower harmony as well which gave the chorus a richness and power. This is one of the few songs from the album which is relatively ‘stripped back’ in terms of the vocal parts, but I think this suits figure it out well, given it has a strong message which doesn’t need to be overshadowed by textured vocal harmonies.
Baz and I never explicitly discussed a vibe or direction of the EP prior to starting on it, but there was something about the moodiness of his tracks which fit so well with the lyrical content that I created that worked so well. It was great to feel so supported by a producer, who also became a mentor during the process, as I had never worked on anything like this before.
A distinctive sound for the record became apparent early on with tracks like playa where in the end I had layered eight vocals parts together on Garageband! I had never written songs with this many vocal layers before, and reckon this stems from my background in many choirs, being able to hear harmonies and vocal lines easily.
I also like that some of the songs are like conversations with myself, with opposing lyrics speaking to each other, and illustrating just what it’s like in my brain sometimes! The whole album felt like a personal passion project for me, recording all the vocals at home by myself whenever I got a spare moment.
I love that each song on the album has a distinctive message, and encapsulates the flurry of emotions you feel in your 20’s. The album title ‘Let Go’ comes from the fifth track, wake up, and illustrates the concept of releasing these emotions and fears so I can live more fully in the present. I am so excited that ‘Let Go’ is now out there for people to listen to, and it has definitely inspired me to work on more projects in the future!
