DLB is nice IMO. This little often forgotten movement into Hourglass I don't ever skip.
On the whole I'd say ETE really succeeds for me in that it establishes its own aural identity yet feels quintessentially like APC.
Reading back over this thread, it certainly feels like APC's been on shaky ground forever, hasn't it? Divisive response to Emotive, long hiatus, Stone And Echo's insanely limited availability, stadium tours underselling as often as not, return album ETE having a similar divisive response. I worry Billy will one day get fed up and chuck it in the bin. Hope we don't have to wait another 10 years.
Feel like APC often goes over best when it's personal and intimate rather than social or political commentary. Then again, there's Hourglass. *Shrug*