I suspect that most people will not have heard of Sonia V. I have to confess that I was amongst that group, but now that I do know her I shall try to rectify that. Sonia Vannest's first independent solo EP `Passion of My Soul' (2002) was followed by `a thing or 2' (2005) which was awarded for "Contemporary Christian Album of the Year" by the Independent Music Awards. As often happens in an artists life, when everything seems to be gaining momentum, that is the time when its most likely to come crashing down. Feeling betrayed by the music industry and significant people in her life, she was forced to take a long sabbatical.Sonia states "I had walked away from music completely thinking that God was done with me & that I'd never sing or write again. I laid it all down and decided that if this was truly what He was going to have me do again, that He would need to bring it about, not me. I just rested in that and learned to just desire only Him, not what I could do for Him, and not what He could do for me. I came to a new and deeper place in my spiritual walk I thought I had already found, having been a Christian my whole life. But until you are standing on the other side of tragedy and know the sweetness of it, you really haven't experienced God at this kind of level".Having come out the other side, Sonia felt that she had more to give and this led to the recording of `Oh Sweet Tragedy ....anthems from the ashes' (2010). The album was co-produced with Kenny Lewis (Stryper, Michael Sweet) and features the talents of Michael Sweet (guitars/vocal duet) & Tracy Ferrie (bass) of Stryper, Derek Kerswill (drums) of Unearth. I'm not sure if hanging out with the Stryper dudes had an effect on her wardrobe, but she is wearing yellow and black in the cover shots!The album opens with `Begin Again' which features an intro by McKendree Augustus (keys) of SonicFlood overlaid by atmospheric vocals, then a razor sharp guitar riff transports you into hard rock territory. It's a declaration of intent with "I will begin again/ I'm trying now to mend/ all the broken pieces that lie shattered on the floor/ I will begin again". Then she pulls out all the stops for the vocal duet with Michael Sweet on `Meet Me in the Middle'. And as she trades vocals with Michael you have to be impressed that she pulls it off with style.`Sing Me A Hallelujah' is about the times where we are desperate for someone to speak into our situation. The chorus aches with emotion "Send me an angel/ Bring in the choir/ I need some beauty for the ashes of this fire/ Sing me a hallelujah, sing it over me! / Send me an angel/ Give me some thunder/ I need amazing grace before I'm too far under / Sing me a hallelujah, sing it over me!". There are biting lyrics in `2nd Place' which must have come from Sonia's personal experiences "So just wipe that silly grin off your face/ Strutting around like you own the place/ Oh silly little girl you oughta know/ You're just second place (You're second rate)". Ouch !For contrast there is the tender 'Beauty For Ashes' and the stomping, hook-laden `Pocket Full Of Posies'. The album is packed with great tracks and I just can't mention them all.