24.05 / 00:31
Entertainment
Single
The xx’s Oliver Sim reveals he’s HIV-positive in powerful new single “Hideous”
An air of mystery has always surrounded the music of The xx, the British indie trio known for sparsely arranged electronic songs and their all-black attire. But in his first solo outing, the band’s bassist and vocalist Oliver Sim is opening himself up to the world, revealing he’s been living with HIV since he was 17.His new single, “Hideous,” states it plain in its closing moments: “Been living with HIV since 17 / Am I hideous?” It’s a moment of radical honesty that shifts the track from synth-laden self-doubt to cathartic confessional, paving the way for a new era in Sim’s life and career.The 32 year-old queer musician recently took to Instagram to share a note about his HIV status, the conception of the song and his forthcoming solo album, Hideous Bastard, which he says is largely about “fear and shame.”“Two thirds in, having a good idea of what the record was about, I realized I’d been circling around one of the thing that has probably caused me the most fear and shame,” he explains.
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Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of 209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi), it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island, and the ninth-largest island in the world. In 2011, Great Britain had a population of about 61 million people, making it the world's third-most populous island after Java in Indonesia and Honshu in Japan. The island of Ireland is situated to the west of Great Britain, and together these islands, along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands, form the British Isles archipelago.