Spill the Tea
xikers closed one fictional door and immediately found a stranger hallway.
Three years into the House of Tricky, xikers announced a new series with their seventh EP, ROUTE ZERO: The ORA. The title track is “OKay”, which is a very calm word for a group that introduced the era with explosions, alarms, and enough performance pressure to require a building permit.
Release: May 19, 2026
The change: A fresh narrative series after the House of Tricky chapter.
The lineup: All ten members, including Junghoon.
The promise: More direct involvement in the group’s music and identity.
House of Tricky was not thrown away
The smartest part of a “new beginning” is knowing what not to delete. xikers built their name around the idea of young travelers moving through a strange, unstable world. The Tricky character, glitchy visuals, rebellious stages, and youth-versus-system tension gave fans something to connect across releases. Starting Route Zero does not mean pretending none of that happened. It means the group reached the point where repeating the same lore would start feeling like homework.
At the Seoul showcase, the members described the album as a new departure. The press coverage focused on the group’s stronger sound, their growth after three years, and the confidence of a complete lineup. That last part matters. The first era began with ten, continued for a long stretch with nine, and finally closed after Junghoon’s return.
“OKay” is not permission. It is a dare.
The title looks casual, but xikers do not deliver casual very often. Their music likes percussion that kicks open the door and choreography that behaves as if the floor insulted somebody. The new track keeps that physical energy while shifting the story language away from simply surviving Tricky’s world.
This is also where the group has to prove the new chapter is more than a renamed folder. A concept reset only works if the music, visual design, and member voices move with it. xikers have already shown they can loosen the mythology for songs like “Up All Night”. Route Zero now has to make the deeper universe feel fresh again.
RaeRae take
I support lore until I need a corkboard and red string to understand why somebody wore a glove in frame 218. Then we have crossed from entertainment into unpaid administrative labor.
So yes, give xikers a new door. Let the members grow out of the exact mythology they debuted inside. Keep the chaos, keep the writing participation, keep the ten-person chemistry, and please do not make roadY solve a QR-code tax return to learn what ORA means.
What I am watching next
- Whether the Route Zero visuals keep recognizable pieces of the House of Tricky world.
- How much Minjae, Sumin, and Yechan continue contributing to lyrics.
- Whether Junghoon gets a full performance identity instead of being treated as “the member who returned.”
- How the ten-member formation changes after a full year together again.
- Whether “OKay” becomes a real launch point or one excellent sign taped over the old hallway.