ALEXTBH.

Despite his home country having strict laws against homosexuality (a remnant of British colonial-era rule), Alex has been singing about same-sex love and desire for years, from proclaiming that “these boys are all the same” on deliciously lo-fi 2016 track Stoop So Low through to recalling a memorable date with another man at East London’s queer bar Dalston Superstore on tender new ballad Superstore. It may seem like a risk to be so open about his sexuality in a homophobic environment, but Alex says his personal experiences have been mostly positive.

“It feels great to be openly gay, it feels great that I can talk about these issues with people who are outside of my community as well, because I feel like that’s something I’ve always wanted to do, to let people know there is indeed a queer scene in Malaysia,” he tells us. “We’re living an oppressed lifestyle, but at the same time that doesn’t mean there’s not a burgeoning and eclectic queer scene happening here. It’s the opposite actually. There’s so many things happening and I have a lot of queer friends doing amazing shit –