For as long as she remembers, Debbie Defire has been involved in some form of entertainment. She does admit lacking discipline to complete projects, but the London-based singer went all out for Where Do I Go from Here , her first album.

Released in October, the set was completed during a period of personal grief. There was no concept; Defire just wanted to get songs she believed packs some punch, out.

“This album is an accumulative of songs I’ve written over the years. It started out with me helping an artiste back in the fall of 2018 and it ignited that spark I had put on the back-burner years ago because of circumstances,” she said in an interview with the Jamaica Observer. “I didn’t have a plan; I’d describe it as the bug bit me and I felt I was not completing my calling using my gift, the dream I had from I was a child. I was also sceptical of doing music again because I start projects and never saw them through, so once I made up my mind about doing the single I told myself that I had to complete the task and it had to be my best work ever.”

‘The single’ is Where Do I Go from Here, a heartfelt ode to Isaac Cochran, her husband of 32 years, who died in October last year. Featuring saxophonist Dean Fraser, it has a haunting Afrobeat feel, inspired by Defire’s embrace of African culture through numerous visits to Tanzania.

Respect, one of the songs from Where Do I Go from Here, was co-written by legendary South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, who Defire met while living in Chicago.

Defire, who was born in the United Kingdom, moved to Jamaica with her parents at age six. She performed with the Junior Centre and was a member of the Jay Teens at the Little Theatre, both in Kingston.

Though recording several songs as Debbie Keys (her real name) in the late 1970s, her career flourished in the Windy City where she worked the club scene as Debbie Defire.

It was at the Wild Hare, Chicago’s premier reggae venue, where she met Masekela, a giant of African music who played on a handful of songs by The Wailers in the late 1960s.

Defire is pleased she released her first album one year after losing her husband. The title song, which she wrote while in mourning, is a “love letter” to him.

“I didn’t want to do a hit and miss project. It had to be my best…I had to do quality work, nothing [halfway]…It had to represent what I’ve learnt from being in the business for the last 42 years,” she said.