The xx’s Oliver Sim Leads With Vulnerability on Subversive Solo Endeavor ‘Hideous Bastard’
Debuting with a playful and gruesome short horror film.
Oliver Sim, one-third of the English indie rock group The xx, spent two years writing and recording his debut solo album. Today, Sim has released the long-awaited LP, entitled Hideous Bastard, a raw exploration of shame, trauma, fear, masculinity and sexuality.
On the record’s lead single “Hideous,” Sim considers his HIV-positive status and how it’s shaped his perception of himself.
“Radical honesty might set me free, if it makes me hideous,” he croons. “Been living with HIV since seventeen / Am I hideous?”
The track features the album’s sole guest artist, Scottish pop singer and gay rights activist Jimmy Sommerville. In an open letter on Instagram, Sim cited that he was inspired by Sommerville to make the song, referring to him as “such a powerful voice in HIV and AIDS for decades.”
Sim also shared that while the project is a separate endeavor from The xx, he worked with fellow bandmates Jamie xx and Romy Madley Croft, who co-produced the entire album.
The 10-track Hideous Bastard arrives alongside a short film encapsulating the “hideous” motif by depicting Sim as a gooey-faced monster. Directed by French filmmaker Yann Gonzalez, the film is exclusively available for streaming worldwide on MUBI.
Listen to Oliver Sim’s ambitious solo album Hideous Bastard everywhere now.
In other music news, Jackson Wang was inspired by 70s rock on his new sophomore LP MAGIC MAN.
