Exactly two weeks ago today, I had this conversation with Oliver Sim of the The xx. The debut solo album that we talked about – the excellent Hideous Bastard – is out today, and we spent our time together discussing this moment of release and what’s gone into this deeply personal record: an album about shame and fear, on which Sim openly addresses his HIV status.

Aside from the new album, we talk about the early days of The xx (yes, I did interview them back then – it’s not something I like to talk about), making new friend, Jimmy Somerville, the horror film short that Sim has made to accompany Hideous Bastard, and what it was like to open that film at Cannes.

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