Experienced similar feelings after "Interpreter". Cope vanished from my radar, and even though I tried to keep up, there were too many side projects or obvious emergency releases like "Audience.." for me.

My rediscovery of Julian started with "Rome", an album that virtually came out of the void for me. Since then there were ups or downs, but I never gave up entirely on Cope and was thoroughly rewarded. Thus I'm curious about the new one - still hasn't arrived here, but it can only be days...

On the other hand some of my erstwhile favourites like "20 Mothers" have suffered substantially in my opinion. Still not a bad album, but more or less a rather untogether collection of songs of quite different quality.
The album that has ever grown on me since it came out is "Autogeddon". "Jehovahkill" was a killer from the start. Peggy took a while to unfold its funky glory on me, but no album took longer to bloom than the mentioned 3rd album of the trilogy. We all change - and so does Julian, and so does his music. Thankfully so.