Fans of the geeky and fanatically well-loved Ben Folds, dismayed when he November's UK tour was cancelled, are in luck: The piano-playing singer is coming to the Dome this week as one of a string of re-scheduled dates.

"I had pneumonia three years ago," he explains, "and I've felt half a click below perfect since then. Then I developed a respiratory infection and so the doctor yanked the whole tour.

"I don't like cancelling shows and I haven't cancelled a lot during my career so far - but if I'd come over to the UK I would have ended up pulling out of the second half of the tour at least.

"Plus, I would never have finished the new album."

It's this album, Songs For Silverman, which Ben is on tour to promote following its release last month. It's his first full-length release to feature a band since his days as leader of alt rock trio Ben Folds Five, a group which - despite an apparent inability to perform basic arithmetic - established a substantial and hugely loyal following in the mid to late Nineties.

Then, at the peak of their popularity, Ben surprised everyone by throwing in the towel, directly contradicting the ancient law that states rock stars who don't die tragically early must keep ploughing on for eternity, a la Mick 'n' Keef.

"It's not like we hated each other or anything," he reflects. "But it just wasn't fun any more. And if it's not working easily Well, I don't go to therapy over my family and I'm certainly not going over my job! We still speak once in a while."

Since the split, Ben has released a solo album, Rocking The Suburbs, as well as three internet-marketed EPs, and collaborated with various artists including Ben Kweller and Ben Lee (under the less than inspired name The Bens) and even William Shatner.

Songs For Silverman, however, is the first time he's returned to the piano/bass/drums line-up he employed in the Ben Folds Five, and comparisons with the old band are unavoidable.

"I'm aware that people will make comparisons," he says, "but it just doesn't matter. "Out of respect for the Ben Folds Five, I didn't use a band for Rocking The Suburbs but played all the instruments myself.

"Now, five years later, I feel I can go back to the band idea.

"Yes, it does have the same instrumentation - not surprisingly, as I've played piano, bass and drums since I was a kid, so it's what I can understand.

"But although we've got the same line-up, that doesn't mean that it sounds the same. Bassist Jared Reynolds and drummer Lindsay Jamieson are great players and certainly aren't trying to copy Ben Folds Five musicians Robert and Darren."

But despite emphasising his new band's difference to the Ben Folds Five - a group famed for their hard-rocking sound and energetic stage show despite their guitarless line-up - Ben downplays the suggestion that there's been a big change of direction.

"It's more about shades of grey than black or white. The new record is subtle, but it doesn't scream that it's subtle," he says. "There's plenty about it that's very obvious. Of course, some people only hear the obvious but actually there's a sort of hidden depth to the music as well.

"I don't mean deliberately hidden," he continues. "I'm talking about subtexts. It's just the way I see life.

Gracie, the song about my daughter, includes the line: 'I saw you when you came out', which is kind of graphic but it wasn't purposefully odd. It just reflects my relationship with my child."

To further challenge the suggestion that the new band represents a more mellow direction, Ben also disputes the idea that Ben Folds Five were a particularly hard-rocking group.

"I'd say Ben Folds Five usually had only one or two songs per album that actually rocked, although the first record probably had a few more.

"But actually we played a lot of ballads. In retrospect people say we rocked but at the time a lot of people were calling it geeky cabaret!

"Personally, I just want to make music that sounds good. You can call it what you like."

Ben, in fact, famously tagged his first band as "punk rock for cissies". Does he have a similar soundbite for the new line-up?

"I came up with that term because I felt we needed a sentence to sum up what we were trying to do," he says.

"We considered ourselves a band that rocked, and we were playing punk rock clubs, but we had a piano rather than a guitar and a lot of our songs were ballads. So that just seemed to fit.

"But I've made a few albums now and I don't feel I have to explain myself so much, not in a single sentence anyway.

"People need to remember that it's only an album, so if there are any changes, it doesn't necessarily mean a big new direction."

Judging by the varied range of musical projects he's worked on in the half decade since the demise of the Ben Folds Five, Ben has clearly been relishing the chance to spread his musical wings. He's clearly got no shortage of ideas, and the Shatner record and The Bens project could be only the beginning of his collaborations.

"I want to make a record with a piano and a 90-piece orchestra," he enthuses. "I did a show like that recently and it was rocking! It's all about arranging the orchestra to be like a rock band, all powerful and heavy.

"I'm also getting ready to do a soundtrack and film score but I'm afraid I can't tell you the name of the film. All I can say is it's a big hairy deal and we'll be recording the orchestral stuff at Abbey Road in London. It's a big-ass Hollywood movie."

Looking to the future, his ambitions seem broader still - having been approached by several Broadway companies, he's now considering writing a musical.

"Everything's together for it to happen," he jokes, "except the musical itself! I just don't have time to write it at the moment, but it's a real possibility for next year.

"I'm thinking about how I can do it really well, so it would be something that I'd genuinely want to go and see myself."

Broadway musicals, full-size orchestras, Hollywood soundtracks and working with Captain Kirk it all sounds a long way from the bandleader we knew in the mid-Nineties who, despite his slightly nerdy image, was best known for pounding piano riffs and a stage show that frequently descended into mayhem.

Now in his late 30s, Ben is a husband and father and does seem to have matured accordingly. But fans will be delighted to hear that he still plans to do some serious rocking when he's back in the piano stool for the live shows.

"It is hard to rock out on the piano," he admits, "but I've done solo piano performances to up to 10,000 people at heavy metal festivals and it went just fine.

"The simple fact is that I am a rock musician. Even if I play ballads for the rest of my life, I'm still a rock musician. It's all about the attitude.

"And yeah that means the piano will still get smashed up if it feels right."

Starts 8pm, tickets cost £17.50/£15. Call 01273 709709.