Oliver Sim - Hideous (Official Video)

Early on in the making of my record it had become clear I was writing a lot about fear and shame. I can imagine that might paint a picture of a dark, “woe is me” sounding album. But I’ve become a firm believer in recent years that the best antidote to these feelings can be bringing them to the surface and shedding some light on them. Pride and celebration have also been invaluable tools for me, but they haven’t always worked on their own. I haven’t written to dwell but rather free myself of some of this shame and fear that I’ve felt, so I hear a lot of the music as joyous. Despite some of the themes, there’s humour & celebration, because writing about it has been the complete opposite of what shame has looked like for me. Two thirds into the writing of my album, having a good idea of what it was about. I realised I’d been circling around one of the things that has probably caused me the most fear and shame. My HIV status. I’ve lived with my status since I was 17 and it’s played with how I’ve felt towards my