Kaiser Chiefs celebrate 20 years of "Employment" with anniversary release, coming July 18th

Following the announcement of a run of very special outdoor celebration shows, which include a massive hometown show at Leeds’ Temple Newsam Park later this month, Yorkshire indie icons Kaiser Chiefs have announced a 20th anniversary release of their seminal debut album Employment. The album will come July 18th.

A year typically commemorated with china, Kaiser Chiefs will mark 20 years of their iconic debut album Employment with three brand new expanded ‘China Anniversary’ formats. The 1LP edition is pressed on white vinyl, and includes ‘bonus’ track ‘Take My Temperature’; the 2LP set features 15 additional tracks, including a selection of B-Sides and CD single bonus tracks, plus two previously unreleased songs, exclusive to this format. On the 3CD set, alongside the original album, the band have added 40 tracks, including previously unreleased demo recordings, remixes, radio sessions, and a selection of live tracks that chart their rapid rise from small club dates in Leeds, to festival headline act. The original album has been remastered at Abbey Road Studios, and the bonus material was curated by the band from their own archive.

Originally released in March 2005, the album landed to wide-spread acclaim and has gone on to become one of the most successful debut albums from a UK band. Peaking at No. 2 on the UK album chart, the record has since spent more than 17 months on the Official Top 40 chart, selling more than 2.1 million copies in the process, and being certified 7 x Platinum status by the British Phonographic Industry. Featuring a host of hit singles including ‘Oh My God’, ‘I Predict A Riot’, ‘Everyday I Love You Less And Less’ and ‘Modern Way’, the album catapulted the band to into the music world’s stratosphere, setting them onto the path of arena mainstays and festival headline status across the world.

“20 years ago, a brand new song by a brand new band was released. ‘I Predict A Riot’ was the start of something really special for some musicians from Leeds,” the band reminisced. “And the album that followed, ‘Employment’, changed our lives and has soundtracked the lives of millions of others since 2005. In 2025 we are saluting 20 years of that album and everyone is invited. Come celebrate the 2000’s, loving everything less & less and stripey blazers taking over the world..”

Formed in Leeds in 2000, Kaiser Chiefs are one of the most exciting and consistently successful bands of their generation. Fronted by the charismatic Ricky Wilson, with Simon Rix on bass, Andrew ‘Whitey’ White on guitar, Nick ‘Peanut’ Baines on keyboards and drummer Vijay Mistry, the band have released eight original studio albums (two of those UK No. 1), had nine Top 40 singles, including the No. 1 ‘Ruby’, received three Brit Awards, an Ivor Novello Album of the Year award for Employment, toured with U2, Foo Fighters and Green Day and sold more than eight million albums worldwide.