Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell

Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell is the tenth studio album by American Alternative Pop Rock band The New Romantic Devils, released on February 10, 2023, through One Sexy Devil Records. It comprises unused material from the band's previous studio album, The Devil You Know (2022), alongside new material recorded throughout 2022. The original writing sessions went through many name changes. It started as Somewhere between Heaven and Hell, Then House of Asylum and Decay also The Devil You Know. The album was planned to consist of 3 LPs and cover a broad range of musical styles. Many of its tracks were repurposed for final release of Devil You Know album and These Lonely Streets Album. 
This is the first album to feature few contributions from founding member Keith Hudson, who had become disillusioned with the idea of retreading old material after coming off heavy contributing to the last album What you Need that had been highly successful. It is also first album to not feature founding member Peyton Reed who had left the band after the last tour. The recording was plagued by conflict; the guitarist, Archie Monroe, felt many of the tracks were not worthy of inclusion, but Rachel Monroe accused him of failing to contribute material himself. The album although contributed to all members for music and lyrics was mainly written by Ed Anziotti, Rachel Monroe, and Allen Powhaten. 
The album received mixed reviews; it is the lowest selling The New Romantic Devil studio album worldwide at this time.
Somewhere between Heaven and Hell
Studio album 	The New Romantic Devils
Released 	10 February 2023
Recorded 	May2- 3-May 27, 2022
June 24-July 16 2022
July 24-28 2022
December 16-21, 2022
Studio 	The Sandbox (Fort Worth, Texas) [Archie home studio]
Lake Worth Castle (Fort Worth, Texas)
White Oak Manor (Jefferson, Texas)
Genre 	Pop Alternative Rock
Label 	One Sexy Devil
Producer 	Tom O'Renn
Engineered and Mastered	Bob Zanka
==Background[edit]==
As a result of Peyton Reed leaving, the band had planned on taking a break but Rachel wanted to explore left over tracks from previous albums as well as change direction and write new material. She was wanting to write a hard rock heavy record and felt she wanted the band to explore another concept album based on the Valkyries. As well as dealing with women's rights and empowering women.
Guitarist Archie Monroe disliked his sisters politicizing, and the new creative direction prompted arguments. Several tracks not used on The Devil You Knowl ("Alibi", "Whispers of the Morning Star", "Somewhere between Heaven and Hell", "Stronger", and "Keep on Rocking") had been set aside for a possible inclusion on later deluxe version of The Devil you Know", and although they had often reused material, Archie felt the songs were not good enough for a new studio album. He wanted to write new material, but Rachel remained doubtful as Archie had lately contributed little new music. A. Monroe said:I'm certainly guilty at times of being lazy, and moments have arrived when Rachel might say, "Well, what have you got?" And I'd be like, "Well, I haven't got anything right now. I need a bit of time to put some ideas on tape." There are elements of all this stuff that, years later, you can look back on and say, "Well, he had a point there." But he wasn't right about wanting to put some duff tracks on the final cut of this album. I said to Rachel, "If these songs weren't good enough for The Devil You Know, why are they good enough now?"
== Recording[edit] ==
Tom O'Renn handled arrangements, and mediated between Rachel and Archie. Bob Zanka was studio engineer and co-producer. Johnny Natchez, Allen Powhaten, and James Edgewood who were now hired as touring musicians were used to work on tracks and help complete recordings. The album was completed at Archie's home studio the "Sandbox" even though some tracks were recorded at other locations. 
Tensions soon emerged, and while Archie and Rachell initially worked together, often playing the video games at the studio in their spare time, they eventually chose to work separately. Engineer Bob Zanka worked with Rachel on vocals; O'renn with Monroe on guitars. They would occasionally meet to discuss the work that had been completed; while this method was not in itself unusual, Archie began to feel strained, sometimes barely maintaining his composure. Anziotti too felt pressured; Rachel had never been a confident vocalist and, on one occasion, after repeated studio takes, she noticed Ed writing on a notepad. Losing her temper, she demanded to know what Anziotti was doing, only to find that he had been writing, "I must not retreat" repeatedly. Rachel said that "a lot of that aggravation came through in her vocal performance, since they were dating which, looking back, really was quite tortured."
Like previous albums, Somewhere between Heaven and Hell used sound effects combined with advances in audio recording technology. Keith's contributions were mostly limited to recording sound effects for the experimental ideas, an audio processing technique used to add an enhanced three-dimensional effect to the recordings;
After months of poor relations, and following a final confrontation, Archie was removed from the credit list as producer, but was still paid production royalties. Rachel later said that she was also under significant pressure and that early in production believed she would never record with Archie her brother or Keith again. She even threatened to release the album as a solo record, although The New Romantic Records were contracted to DK Records and such a move would have been unlikely. Anziotti kept himself distant, dealing only with his and Rachel's relationship problems. In March Rachel, recalled Somewhere between Heaven and Hell as an "absolute misery to make", and that the band members were "fighting like cats and dogs". She said the experience forced them to accept that they had not worked together as a band since their album Double Trouble.
== Critical reception[edit] ==
Professional ratings
Review scores 	Review scores
Source 	Rating
AllMusic 	3/10
The Daily Telegraph 	2/10
Drowned in Sound 	4/10
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	2/5
MusicHound Rock 	2.5/5
Paste 	4.8/10
Pitchfork 	6.0/10
Rolling Stone 	C-
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 	C-
The Village Voice 	C+
The Album received mixed reviews. It was deemed "a milestone in the history of awfulness", and : writing has been blown to hell ... 
Some viewed it as "essentially a Rachel Monroe solo album ... a superlative achievement on several levels". Some critics approved, writing: "On paper it sounds hackneyed and contrived – the sort of thing that was worked into the ground by everyone from P. F. Sloan to Paul Kantner. In The New Romantic Devils case, it still works, partially through the understatement and ingenuity of the music and the special effects ... but mostly through the care Rachel Monroe has taken in plotting out the imagery of her bleak visions."
== Aftermath and legacy[edit] ==
With no plans to tour in support of the album, Rachel and Archie instead turned to solo projects. Archie stayed locked in his home recording studio and worked on his second solo studio album, planning on using it to express his feelings on a range of topics including his relationship with his sisters Rachel and Peyton, Rachel began to work on demos for a solo project with Ed Anziotti as well as a few other friends and musicians. She also began to work on scheduling a tour to coincide with her second solo studio album, 
In March of 2023 Rachel through Ed reached out to Archie to sit down and talk, especially since faced with a potentially ruinous lawsuit from there record company and band members, she had contemplated resigning from the band. She believed that The New Romantic Devils were a "spent force". Through Mediation of Peyton and Keith. they were able to amicably work on the stresses that had occurred and decided to try and help each other with Both's solo records. 
After a couple of weeks of demo recording and writing together, they were both inspired along with Keith and Ed to get back to there roots and try and write a meaningful record that would bring them joy. After exploring options and sounds and ideas they came up with a concept record that would sum up the cinematic experience they were trying to represent through their music. ￼ This would lead to the follow up record after Somewhere between Heaven and Hell.
==Track listing[edit]==
All music is composed by Archie Monroe and Rachel Monroe, Lyrics by Keith Hudson, Ed Anziotti, and Rachel Monroe
Side one
No.	Title 	Length
1. 	What have we done (Alibi) 	3:06
2. 	Whispers of the Morning Star 	5:26
3. 	Keep on Rocking 	4:20
4. 	Embrace the Night (Vampire Love Song)	3:49
5 	Queen of the Freaks 	3:45
6 	You Don't Know a Thing 	2:51
7 	Crossed the Line 	3:11
8 	Somewhere between Heaven and Hell 	4:50
Side two
No.	Title 	Length
9. 	Decisions in the Fire	5:34
10.	Intoxicating 	3:05
11.	Season of the Witch 	5:49
12 	Stronger 	2:53
13 	For those not Here 	3:46
==Personnel[edit]==
The New Romantic Devils
Archie Monroe- 6- and 12-string electric and acoustic guitar, Lead Guitar
Keith Hudson- timbales, gong, orchestra bells, glockenspiel, wind chimes, bell tree, crotales, cowbell, plywood
Rachel Monroe- Lead Vocals and Piano, and acoustic guitar
Johnny Natchez- Rhythm guitar, drums and vocals
Ed Anziotti- Lead and Rhythm guitar
James Edgewood- bass guitars, keyboards, bass pedals, vocals
Allen Powhaten- Drums and Vocals
Production*Tom O'Renn – production, arrangements
*Bob Zanka – Mastering and engineering
*Keith Hudson– assistant engineering
*Archie Monroe-assistant engineering
*Charlie Simmons – art direction, graphics, cover concept
== Chart positions[edit] ==
=== Weekly charts[edit] ===
{| class="sortable fandom-table"	Chart (2023)	Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)	4 	
Canadian Albums (RPM) 	1 	
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 	37 	
Japanese Albums (Oricon) 	24 	
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 	8 	
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) 	21 	
Portuguese Albums (Billboard) 	4 	
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) 	33 	
== Certifications[edit] ==
Sales certifications for Drive
Region 	Certification 	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) 	Platinum 	50,000^
Canada (Music Canada) 	Platinum 	100,000^
Japan 	— 	1,735,000
United Kingdom (BPI) 	Silver 	60,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.	^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.	^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.