Leaving behind the demo-song sheen and buried vocals of his debut solo release
Manchild and Myth,
Peter Koppes emerged the better for it with 1989's more purposeful
From the Well. The production value, for starters, seemed to have moved out of the bedroom and into a proper studio. The keyboard and drum-machine-reliant backing tracks that seemed cheap and tinny on
Manchild and Myth finally got the attention they needed on
From the Well, sounding richer and adding to the overall drive of the album (rather than wallowing in an incoherent wash of reverb). The vocals, too, had improved, sounding less like
Mick Karn being smothered under a pillow, and more like a guy that was at least trying. This wasn't to say that
Koppes' voice had blossomed from caterpillar to butterfly (his vocal delivery still made
Steve Kilbey's dour crooning seem positively animated by comparison), yet there was a new found confidence that was glaringly absent on
Manchild and Myth. The addition of female vocals on many of the tracks helped to break up the monotony by providing moments of
Maureen Tucker-esque innocence ("Lullaby") or
Dominique Durand sultriness ("Only Wait"). Improvements aside,
Koppes' songs still didn't drive as much as plod, and the album lacked any truly standout tracks because of this fact. Diehard
Church fans could probably find a few rare moments to latch onto on
From the Well but, for the majority of listeners, the album just served as a reminder that
Peter Koppes, the solo artist, still remained a work in progress.