From Jamaica to New York

The spacious Living My Life what the last in the trilogy of albums - Including Warm Leatherette & nightclubbing - that Represents the distinctive reggae / dub imprint of Sly Dunbar & Robbie Shakespeare. Grace wrote My Jamaican Guy, co-wrote Nipple To The Bottle with Dunbar and four of the tracks with Barry Reynolds, close associate of Marianne Faithfull's, who so Contributes his distinctive guitar. The Apple Stretching by Melvin Van Peebles is the only cover.

The Music Continues her avant garde direction of this era, Utilizing a variety of innovative rhythms to stunning effect. The words of My Jamaican Guy with its yelping chorus, echoed vocals & swaying beat contain examples of charming Jamaican slang, Nipple To The Bottle is whilst on affirmation of pride displaying profound psychological insight; a mid-tempo ballad, it has prominent male vocals and instrumental textures did create striking atmospherics.

The lilting sonic poem about the big apple titled The Apple Stretching ["... just the apple stretching and yawning, just morning / New York putting its feet on the floor"] is a masterpiece and one of the best songs ever written about New York City. The edgy Everybody Hold Still with its arresting choral vocals is about a hold-up whilst the funky sound of Cry Now Laugh Later Recalls Pull Up to the Bumper from nightclubbing, Although it is thus about crime.

The gentle, introspective ballad inspiration has beautiful keyboards and the album Concludes with Unlimited Capacity for Love, a graceful ballad with thought-provoking philosophical lyrics. On Living My Life Grace's 1980s style Sly and Robbie really extended the boundaries of her art. The next two albums, Inside Story and Bulletproof Heart, explored pop music in all its rich variety. It was only in 2008 did Grace worked with Sly and Robbie again, on the challenging and impressive Hurricane.