...Novena on a Nocturn, the debut of Kasher's solo project, the Good Life, was released in 2001. Also notable was the release of another Cursive EP, Burst and Bloom, which added cellist Gretta Cohn to the band's lineup. Meanwhile, Cursive were featured on the first 7" in Makato Recordings' yearlong monthly 7" series, and the quintet returned in 2003 with The Ugly Organ. Their most ambitious album to date, The Ugly Organ was hailed for its challenging songwriting, obtuse conceptual scope, and serious lyrical turns. As the band readied a worthy follow-up album, Saddle Creek issued Difference Between Houses and Homes in August 2005, assembling Cursive's out of print 7"s (including two unreleased songs) into a stopgap compilation. Happy Hollow ultimately arrived in 2006, marking the departure of Cohn but also the inclusion of a brass section, which the band utilized to explore religious contradictions within the context of a fictional Western town. The following year, founding drummer Clint Schnase left Cursive on good terms and was replaced by touring drummer Cornbread Compton, and the band continued onward with its revised lineup, ringing in 2009 with the release of Mama, I'm Swollen. -Peter J. D'Angelo