News

Kaiser Chiefs’ debut album is going big for its 20th anniversary this summer, in a variety of formats.

Employment will be available July 25 from UMR in a trio of physical formats. The newly remastered album, including the singles “I Predict a Riot,” “Modern Way” and “Everyday I Love You Less and Less,” will be pressed on both 3CD and vinyl formats with a bonus track, “Riot” B-side “Take My Temperature” and redesigned album artwork. The remainder of the 3CD set offers B-sides, compilation appearances, demos, remixes and live material from the band’s archive, including 19 previously unreleased tracks. Two vinyl variants will be available: a white-colored pressing featuring the original album and “Take My Temperature,” and a black double-vinyl offering 13 of the studio B-sides from the 3CD set, plus two outtakes that aren’t on the CD. It is currently unknown what digital products will be available or if they will offer everything from the physical formats.

After an obscure album in 2002 under the name Parva, the Leeds-based Kaiser Chiefs (singer Ricky Wilson, guitarist Andrew White, bassist Simon Rix, keyboardist Nick Baines and drummer Nick Hodgson) made good on years of pounding the pavement and honing a solid live act when Employment came out at the top of 2005. Co-produced by Stephen Street (The Smiths) and Stephen Harris (Dave Matthews, Ben Kweller), the record’s post-punk/new wave throwback sound dovetailed nicely with waves of critically acclaimed alt-rock revivalists on both sides of the Atlantic, from Franz Ferdinand to The Strokes. The Chiefs benefited considerably from that wave: Employment was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and won an Ivor Novello Award, while the band themselves took home three BRITs for British Group, British Rock Act and British Live Act. That, in turn, helped the album outchart its previous No. 3 peak, reaching a space higher; “Oh My God,” “I Predict a Riot” and “Every Day I Love You Less and Less” all hit the Top 10 of the U.K. singles chart. (Things would get even bigger on sophomore album Yours Truly, Angry Mob (2007), which topped the British charts along with lead single “Ruby.” The band, featuring Vijay Mistry on drums since 2013, continue to record and tour; last year’s Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album kicked off with “Feeling Alright,” co-written with Nile Rodgers.)

You can pre-order Employment 20 at the links below ahead of its July 25 release. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Employment 20 (China Anniversary Edition) (Polydor/UMR (U.K.), 2025)

3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
White LP: Official Store

CD/LP 1: Remastered album (1-12 released as B-Unique BUN093CD (U.K.)/Universal B0004215-02 (U.S.), 2005) and bonus track

1. Everyday I Love You Less and Less
2. I Predict a Riot
3. Modern Way
4. Na Na Na Na Naa
5. You Can Have It All
6. Oh My God
7. Born to Be a Dancer
8. Saturday Night
9. What Did I Ever Give You?
10. Time Honoured Tradition
11. Caroline, Yes
12. Team Mate
13. Take My Temperature (B-side to “I Predict a Riot” 7″ – B-Unique BUN088-7 (U.K.), 2004

CD 2: B-Sides and Demos (* previously unreleased)

1. Wrecking Ball
2. Brightest Star
3. Not Surprised
4. Think About You (and I Like It)
5. Hard Times Send Me
6. Sink That Ship
7. Less is More
8. The Letter Song
9. Seventeen Cups
10. It Ain’t Easy (Demo)
11. Run Again
12. People Need Light
13. Moon
14. Another Number
15. I Heard It Through the Grapevine
16. Modern Way (Rhythms Del Mundo Version)
17. You Can Have It All (Light Orchestral)
18. Oh My God (Demo) *
19. Born to Be a Dancer (Demo)
20. Caroline, Yes (Demo) *
21. I Predict a Riot (Demo) *
22. Modern Way (Demo) *
23. Saturday Night (Demo) *

CD 3: Remixes and Live (* previously unreleased)

1. Everyday I Love You Less and Less (Spike Stent Remix)
2. I Predict a Riot (Spike Stent Remix) *
3. Na Na Na Na Naa (Polysics Remix)
4. Everyday I Love You Less and Less (Boyz Noize Remix)
5. I Predict a Riot (Big Nurse Remix) *
6. Sink That Ship (BBC Radio 2 Session for Mark Radcliffe – 10/17/2005) *
7. Modern Way (BBC Radio 2 Session for Mark Radcliffe – 10/17/2005) *
8. Everyday I Love You Less and Less (Live at The Mod Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – 5/29/2005) *
9. Hard Times Send Me (Live at The Academy, Birmingham, England – 1/24/2005) *
10. Na Na Na Na Naa (Live at Glastonbury Festival, Worthy Farm, England – 6/25/2005) *
11. Oh My God (Live at Georg-Elser-Hallen, Munich, Germany – 11/4/2005)
12. Born to Be a Dancer (Live at T In The Park, Kinross, Scotland – 7/10/2005) *
13. Saturday Night (Live at Joseph’s Well, Leeds, England – 9/28/2003) *
14. Sink That Ship (Live at The Cockpit, Leeds, England – 12/13/2004)
15. Take My Temperature (Live at The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA – 7/25/2005)
16. Time Honoured Tradition (Live at The Metro Theatre, Sydney, Australia – 11/29/2005) *
17. Caroline, Yes (Live at The Metro Theatre, Sydney, Australia – 11/29/2005) *
18. I Predict a Riot (Live at V Festival, Hylands Park, Chelmsford, England – 8/20/2005) *
19. Take My Temperature (Live at Leeds Town Hall, Leeds, England – 10/18-20/2005) *
20. Oh My God (Live at The Metro Theatre, Sydney, Australia – 11/29/2005) *

Disc 2, Track 1 from “I Predict a Riot” CD single – B-Unique BUN088CD (U.K.), 2004
Disc 2, Track 2 from “Oh My God” 7″ – B-Unique BUN0092-7 (U.K.), 2005
Disc 2, Tracks 3, 9 and 14 and Disc 3, Track 1 from “Everyday I Love You Less and Less” CD singles – B-Unique BUN094CD/CDX (U.K.), 2005
Disc 2, Tracks 4-5 and 19 from “Oh My God” CD singles – B-Unique BUN092CD/CDX (U.K.), 2005
Disc 2, Tracks 6-7 and Disc 3, Track 4 from “I Predict a Riot” CD singles – B-Unique BUN096CD/CDX (U.K.), 2005
Disc 2, Track 8 from “Everyday I Love You Less and Less” 7″ – B-Unique BUN094-7 (U.K.), 2005
Disc 2, Tracks 10 and 12-13 from “Modern Way” CD singles – B-Unique BUN100CD/CDX (U.K.), 2005
Disc 2, Track 11 from “Modern Way” 7″ – B-Unique BUN100-7 (U.K.), 2005
Disc 2, Track 15 from Rhythms Del Mundo: Classics – APE Vision/Universal Music TV 2710218 (U.K.), 2009
Disc 2, Track 16 from Rhythms Del Mundo: Cuba – Universal Music TV 1709595 (U.K.), 2006
Disc 2, Track 17 from B-Unique 7″ BUN102-7 (U.K.), 2005
Disc 3, Tracks 3 and 15 from Lap of Honour EP – B-Unique UICU-1102 (JP), 2005
Disc 3, Track 14 from Enjoyment DVD – B-Unique BUN101DVD (U.K.), 2005

LP 2: B-Sides (* previously unreleased)

Side C

1. Less is More
2. Wrecking Ball
3. Brightest Star
4. Not Surprised
5. Think About You (and I Like It)
6. Hard Times Send Me
7. Sink That Ship

Side D

1. The Letter Song
2. Seventeen Cups
3. It Ain’t Easy (Demo)
4. Run Again
5. People Need Light
6. Moon
7. Formative Years *
8. Don’t Get Me Wrong *