Londonist has been big fans of The Pipettes ever since their first polka dotted dress rolled off the production line back in 2004. We've banged on about them a hell of a lot so it's with some sadness today that we have to report the leaving of the two original members of the band.
In a press release issued by Polydor Records (so they've obviously moved up in the world!) The Pipettes declared that Riot Becki and Rosay had moved onto other solo projects leaving just Gwenno to find two new members and create The Pipettes v3.0. Sorry boys, we know you just loved Rosay but new solo projects might mean you get to see even more of her?
Those two new members are named Ani & Anna. One is rumoured to be Gwenno's sister and they both could be former members of defunct Liverpool girl group Genie Queen who supported The Pips at the 100 Club back in 2005. Despite much speculation on fan forums, their identity has not been confirmed and no new line-up photos exist.
Read the full press release:
The Pipettes have two new members, Ani and Anna. We are demoing up 20-25 new songs, with an eye to recording a second album in the Summer. We want to tell you all about them, but we’re very much head-down working on new material at the moment.
This means that RiotBecki and Rosay have left to pursue other musical pursuits (which will be brilliant when they emerge), we wish them all the best, we’re all still great friends and news on their pursuits will be closely supported by us.
People may be confused by such a drastic change in line-up but please rest assured - if we were to be an imitation of ourselves we would stop. Plus the Pipettes has more members come and go than major labels have A&R men, it's just another day in the office for us (plus we’ve got to go one better than the Sugababes).
We refer you to the manifesto on www.thepipettes.com for a more in depth explanation on the functioning of the band; this was the natural step to take. For a more in depth series of answers, we direct you to the prepared video here.
Thanks for all the continued support over this period and we’re incredibly excited to be working toward bringing you a new album that will be unlike anything we (or anyone else) have ever done. We will also have limited edition novelty tee-shirts on sale soon, keep an eye out for them and join the growing thousands who can now claim to be ‘ex-Pipettes.’
Love,
The Pipettes
