Of the members of the British electro-R&B-pop trio The XX, Oliver Sim was the one from whom we didn’t expect a solo album, and he couldn’t see himself recording one. “It wasn’t on my radar, because I love being part of The XX. You know, I’ve been in this band with my two best friends since I was 15 — that’s more than half my life! »
“I guess I was hesitant to do it because I didn’t know how it would sound,” continues the singer-songwriter. And what ideas would I have to offer? What do I have to say? “Many important things, in truth, do we discover on hideous bastard. “This is not an album of love songs,” warns the musician.
Jamie XX has launched his magnificent solo album In Color in 2015, he is currently simmering a second that we hope to listen to next year; Romy Madley Croft announced her fall 2020 album with a catchy first song, Lifetimebut we are still waiting for the sequel.
Honesty
Without warning, Oliver Sim unveiled the title of his first solo album last May by releasing a breathtaking first single. The song, a ballad woven with strings and acoustic guitar in the middle of which arises a muffled rhythm, is called hideous. Hideous. She opens the album on purpose, Sim making a brave revelation in the very last verse: Radical honesty might set me free / If it makes me hideous / Been living with HIV since seventeen / Am I hideous? Phew.
“It was a relief to broadcast this song”, breathes Oliver Sim, contacted in London by videoconference. “In my inner circle, most knew I was HIV positive; for some of them, I tell them once, never to speak again. “Delicate subject, if any. “I find it a lot easier to be honest when writing a song than talking to someone about it. The song, I don’t have to be in the same room as the people listening to it, I don’t have to see their reaction… In fact, what really felt good and helped me was all the conversations I’ve had about the song, with my collaborators, with journalists. Every conversation takes me a little away from the feeling of shame I live with. »
A feeling that finds its symbol in a main theme of the album: horror cinema, a passion that his friends from The XX do not share with him and which contributes to giving a musical identity specific to Oliver’s album. , brilliantly directed by Jamie. “There is, for example, this kind of sound, like a synth that buzzes behind certain songs, which I love, analyzes Sim. Sound inspired by horror movie music I love, John Carpenter’s work, music [du groupe italien des années 1970] Goblin is both beautiful and sinister. »
Wear a mask
Then in the words: at the heart of the album, the song Unreliable Narrator is inspired by a monologue by Christian Bale, who plays the role of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho (2000), mentioned character (along with the disgusting Buffalo Bill of The Silence of the Lambs1991) in the last song, Run the Credits. “It is this type of monstrous character that fascinates me the most, abounds Oliver. I’m obviously not a serial killer, but this idea of dressing up, of “wearing a mask” to hide from others, speaks to me. [La chanson] hideous has nothing to do with appearance, and everything to do with how I feel. The monsters don’t prevent me from sleeping, but my loneliness, my shame, does. »
It will be understood, the pop of Oliver Sim does not float on the surface of things, but the melodies, the clever grooves and the sophisticated orchestrations lighten the subject. Of the Romance With A Memorysecond song, we want to dance gently, carried away by a groove paying homage to classic Motown, even more soulful on SensitiveChild following. Never Here could have been composed for The XX’s next album, just like GMT bearing the house signature of Jamie XX, who recycles a good flash from his own solo album by sticking under Oliver’s voice the vocal harmonies of the Beach Boys (the song Our Prayerof Smile !).
“My biggest fear is that the public will perceive this album as a sad and heavy work, because that’s not how I hear it, admits Oliver Sim. I hear a lot of joy, in truth, in the album. »
hideous bastard by Oliver Sim will be released Friday on the Young label.