Jesse Kivel of Kisses impressed me greatly with “William,” the lead single from his solo debut album Infinite Jess. And guess what? The second single, out today, is equally impressive. “Northside” is a warmly melancholy midtempo pop song backed by some extremely ’90s drum programming reportedly inspired by My Bloody Valentine’s “Soon.” The “Northside” in question is a neighborhood in Santa Monica that, per Kivel’s new press release, is known as “North of Montana” among the locals — a place where rich Hollywood types maintain some semblance of an idyllic West Coast existence despite the world crumbling around them.

Kivel’s statement doesn’t get into all that, but it does unlock some of the song’s musical DNA:

This song is a love letter to a time when music was brand new and limitless in my mind. As a kid, my brother and I would walk from our high school to Barnes and Noble and spend hours reading Q, NME, MOJO and all the other British music magazines. Our favorite group was Oasis, and we just wanted to be the Gallaghers. This song also nods to the Smashing Pumpkins, Primal Scream and Polaris who I also deeply connected with at the time.

Listen below.

Infinite Jess is out 11/13 on New Feelings. Pre-order it here.