Oliver Sim, the artist who makes HIV visible: "I don't want to fight the world, I just want to heal myself"

Oliver Sim, one of the members of The XX, who is now releasing his solo album, 'Hideous Bastard'. Casper Sejersen

He was the odd man out.

When talking about The XX, that pioneering trio in mixing electronic pop and R&B, Oliver Sim (London, 33 years old) was always the third.

There was Jamie XX, the frontman, a little genius who released solo, produced Drake, remixed Radiohead and Gil Scott-Heron, or played big festivals.

There was Romy, the female voice, who also played and wrote (unsigned) for stars.

And, in addition, there was Oliver, singer and bassist, tall, very shy and whose occupation was unknown outside of The XX.

That changed a few months ago.

In March, she released her first solo track,

.

It was a good electronic pop song sung in his masculine crooner's voice.

A month later, the second single,

, was something else.

It premiered with a video in which Sim appeared in a kind of

.

The presenter asked him: "If you met right now when you were a child, what would you say?".

From there, Sim began to sing on stage while a child (he?) watches him spellbound on the television in his room.

In the middle of the video Sim passionately kisses the presenter.

Years ago he came out of the closet, but never in such an explicit way.

When he released the third

in May , he revealed that he has been HIV-positive since the age of 17.

So it became clear that

, out this Friday, is more than just a debut album;

it is an introduction to the world of who the real Oliver is.

"I like people who make honest and personal music," he explains with a smile from his London home, with a huge window behind him.

“Perhaps what makes me different is that there are many musicians who are encouraged to preach that they accept and love each other.

Which is a wonderful thing, but his approach to music is different from mine: I use it to shed the contempt I feel for myself.

I don't want to become Cher, quite the opposite.

I share the things I fight against every day.

I blame myself for them.

But not to fight against the world, I just want to heal myself, ”she explains with the ease that comes from having given a lot of thought to the reason for things.

One remembers The XX's first visit to Madrid, to present their second album.

They were 19-year-olds who seemed uncomfortable with so much attention.

Especially him.

“I wouldn't change it.

It's true, we weren't prepared at all, but the magic was that we learned as we went”.

He assures that despite the fact that each of its members are working alone, The XX is still going.

“That group is my home, it's where my heart is.

When we recorded our last album, Jamie was working alone and I discovered that thanks to that he brought new ideas.

I think that's when Romy and I thought: 'Maybe we should do it too'.

Anyway, Jamie produces the album and even has a small role in the 22-minute short —selected for Cannes Critics' Week— from which the videos are excerpts.

“The XX is a democracy.

The meeting point of the three.

But there's a lot on this record that isn't Jamie's world, it's mine: he doesn't share my taste for horror movies or some of the musical references.

It's also quite a

record and Jamie is a straight man.

He has had no ego.

He has been very humble.

He sat with me, watched horror movies and listened to the music that inspired me.

He came into my world and that's great."

And the elephant in the room.

The hiv.

"I realized that I had been thinking about one of the things that has probably caused me the most fear and shame, my HIV status," he explained in the text that accompanies

.

"The album can sound dark, because it's about fear and shame," he adds now.

“But for me it is not.

It is also celebration and joy.

I don't experience life in black and white.

You can dance to my favorite songs on the dance floor or go home and cry listening to them.

I have moments of happiness in which there is a point of sadness.

That's life.

Or, at least, that's my life."

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