The xx's Oliver Sim hyped fans with a new song - but he broke their hearts at the same time with an announcement about his health status.
Sim braved everything and shared with his fans the health struggle he has been dealing with alongside an update about his new solo song, "Hideous."
The track in question will be part of his solo debut album, "Hideous Bastard," which will be released on September 9.
On his Instagram page, Sim said that he finds it hard to write such a thing as a lot of things in his upcoming project are serious matters. It includes fear, masculinity, and shame - and how these things led him to free himself through music.
In another post, he revealed that he learned that he is HIV+ when he was 17.
"Two thirds in, having a good idea of what the record was about, I realized I'd been circling around one of the things that have probably caused me the most fear and shame. My HIV status," the singer said, as quoted by Rolling Stone. "I've been living with HIV since I was 17 and it's played with how I've felt towards myself, and how I've assumed others have felt towards me, from that age and into my adult life."
Before announcing his new music, he purportedly played the song to his mother and received the best advice ever.
Per the "Say Something Loving" hitmaker, his mother told him to spend time having conversations with people in his life. In the past two years, he has been following his mother's words.
In return, he said he feels freer while strengthening his relationship with himself and other people.
The upcoming "Hideous Bastard" album contains the tracks "Hideous," "Romance With a Memory," "Sensitive Child," "Never Here," "Unreliable Narrator," "Saccharine," "Confident Man," "GMT," "Fruit," and "Run the Credits."
Oliver Sim Also Suffers Mental Health Issues
Before confirming his HIV+ diagnosis, he also told Standard Magazine UK about his struggles mentally.
Per the musician, he still suffers from social anxiety after all these years.
"I am a very fearful person. I'm screaming inside most of the time," he said.
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Sim noted how he looks animated at times to cope with the anxiety. He also looks like he retreats into himself during conversations with other people.
As of press time, he is focusing on showering himself with self-care while doing better in creating music.
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