The Woodleigh Research Facility

The Woodleigh Research Facility is an experimental electro project founded by longtime collaborators <a href="spotify:artist:75VNjRaVkoPt0hloW93Cic">Nina Walsh</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5J85JTgIYIUP276hmuIozn">Andrew Weatherall</a>. Beginning with their 2015 debut, The Phoenix Suburb (And Other Stories), the duo explored <a href="spotify:artist:0dmPX6ovclgOy8WWJaFEUU">Kraftwerk</a>-inspired electro and Balearic dub-disco. Following <a href="spotify:artist:5J85JTgIYIUP276hmuIozn">Weatherall</a>'s untimely death in early 2020, <a href="spotify:artist:75VNjRaVkoPt0hloW93Cic">Walsh</a> continued recording music as the W.R.F. by herself, in addition to issuing material from the duo's extensive archives. Phonox Nights, a final full-length with <a href="spotify:artist:5J85JTgIYIUP276hmuIozn">Weatherall</a>, was issued in 2023, and an archival EP Vous Du appeared in 2024.

The duo's partnership stretches back to the '90s, when <a href="spotify:artist:5J85JTgIYIUP276hmuIozn">Weatherall</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:75VNjRaVkoPt0hloW93Cic">Walsh</a> co-ran the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sabres+of+Paradise%22">Sabres of Paradise</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sabrettes%22">Sabrettes</a> labels. <a href="spotify:artist:75VNjRaVkoPt0hloW93Cic">Walsh</a> also appeared on an album by <a href="spotify:artist:5J85JTgIYIUP276hmuIozn">Weatherall</a>'s group <a href="spotify:artist:33Ztukerf3He8FeKk5acn8">Two Lone Swordsmen</a>, 2004's From the Double Gone Chapel. The two formed the Woodleigh Research Facility in 2015, issuing their debut album, The Phoenix Suburb (And Other Stories), on <a href="spotify:artist:33Ztukerf3He8FeKk5acn8">Two Lone Swordsmen</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rotters+Golf+Club%22">Rotters Golf Club</a> imprint. <a href="spotify:artist:75VNjRaVkoPt0hloW93Cic">Walsh</a> also co-wrote and engineered several of <a href="spotify:artist:5J85JTgIYIUP276hmuIozn">Weatherall</a>'s solo singles, in addition to his remixes for the Limiñanas, <a href="spotify:artist:3AmgGrYHXqgbmZ2yKoIVzO">Warpaint</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7sjttK1WcZeyLPn3IsQ62L">Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds</a>, and others. The second W.R.F. album, 127 to Facility 4, was issued as a limited-edition LP in 2018.

<a href="spotify:artist:5J85JTgIYIUP276hmuIozn">Andrew Weatherall</a> died from a pulmonary embolism on February 17, 2020, at the age of 56. Throughout the year, <a href="spotify:artist:75VNjRaVkoPt0hloW93Cic">Walsh</a> continued releasing EPs as part of the Facility 4 series (named after the duo's studio), which had started before <a href="spotify:artist:5J85JTgIYIUP276hmuIozn">Weatherall</a>'s death. The album Torschlusspanik, recorded in 2018, surfaced in April. While archival released by the duo continued appearing, <a href="spotify:artist:75VNjRaVkoPt0hloW93Cic">Walsh</a> also wrote W.R.F. tracks during the COVID-19 lockdown, and issued them with distinct artwork. A series of Apparently Solo releases, including some of the project's heaviest club bangers, began appearing in 2023. All Is Not Lost, the first release from <a href="spotify:artist:75VNjRaVkoPt0hloW93Cic">Walsh</a>'s relocated studio, Facility 5, was issued in November. The same month, Phonox Nights, a final album with <a href="spotify:artist:5J85JTgIYIUP276hmuIozn">Weatherall</a>, was released. An EP centered around the long-unreleased, sought-after W.R.F. cut "Vous Du" was issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Byrd+Out%22">Byrd Out</a> in 2024. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi