Stories about the demise of the Kaiser Chiefs were greatly exaggerated.

When the band decided to take "a hiatus" in 2008, the music papers and blogosphere was rife with claims that the Leeds band had resigned its crown.

After a steady 12-year scramble to the pinnacle of British indie pop rock with hits such as Modern Way and Ruby, it seemed the Yorkshiremen had tired of predicting riots and rallying the angry mob.

Not so, says hat-wearing keyboard man, Nick "Peanut" Baines.

"No," he states emphatically. "We never decided to call it a day.

"We always intended to come back and do more with the band.

"It was just at that point, in 2008, we were pretty knackered. We had done three albums in four years, been touring constantly and basically forgotten what home looked like.

"We just needed a bit of time to breathe and a bit of distance and perspective to work out where we were."

The result of the band's sojourn came last year when the fivesome returned with a triumphant series of summer festival gigs – including a second on the bill appearance at Glastonbury – and a new album, The Future Is Medieval.

The record, the band's fourth, was released as part of a revolutionary new concept where fans could construct their own Kaiser's album by choosing 12 of 20 tracks recorded by the band online.

It's difficult to tell how well the release did commercially, as no two fans would have downloaded the same version album, but Peanut seems happy with the results.

"I think we had something like a million hits on the website in the first week," he says.

"It was quite an innovative idea and in this day and age, where no one is really buying albums anymore, that's the sort of thing you're going to need to keep the kids interacting with you and interested in the music you're making."

Now, suitably refreshed and with a new collection of songs to play, Peanut and co are hitting the road for a series of UK dates which brings them to Grimsby, next week.

And the group seem to be chomping at the bit to win their crown back as one of the best live British bands on the circuit.

"It's great to be back playing again," says Peanut.

"There was a time around about 2008 when I felt we could walk on to any festival stage in the world and really smash it out of the ground.

"We were flying, at the top of our game – and I think we're reaching that same level again now.

"It feels like we haven't really been away."