True Solace

The contemporary Christian music group known as True Solace is comprised of five talented female vocalist from London, England. When the group began in the '90s, its members ranged in age from the teens to double that. The gospel quintet features Yolanda Antonio, Susane Patterson-Smith, Sheree Pinheiro, Marcia Walder, and lead singer Loretta Akpan, its youngest member.

In the middle of the '90s, Antonio, Patterson-Smith, Pinheiro, and Walder were already performing together in South London as part of both choirs and chamber groups. It was Errol Henry, a songwriter and producer, who introduced the foursome to Akpan. As a group, they became True Solace. With Henry's songwriting skills, the ladies came up with a style of music that was fully capable of spreading the Christian word, but does so with the flavors of R&B, reggae, hip-hop, pop, and even funk all stirred in with the gospel.

In 1999, True Solace finished its debut single, "Thank You," and its first album, A New Beginning, was released that same summer under the Atlantic Records label. A few of the tracks from the full-length offering are "That's the Kind of Love," "Someone Like You," "Let Him In," "It Feels Good," "How Did You Know?," and "Heaven's Glory." ~ Charlotte Dillon