Oliver Sim

Aside from his role as the xx's baritone-voiced bassist, Oliver Sim makes impassioned, theatrical pop that's a far cry from that group's bittersweet minimalism. The band's Mercury Prize-winning, self-titled 2009 album introduced his rich vocals and 2017's I See You revealed a newfound directness to his songwriting, but Sim truly came into his own with 2022's solo debut Hideous Bastard, which encompassed horror film imagery and '80s synth pop influences as he explored overcoming fear and shame as an HIV-positive gay man. Growing up, Sim felt like an outsider and related to sci...