Boy band xikers will roll out its first album of 2025 on Friday. Every new album is meaningful to a group, but the upcoming “House of Tricky: Spur” EP is even more so, because it’s the first time in two years where all members have taken part in a project together.

xikers debuted in March 2023 under KQ Entertainment, which is also home to the boy band Ateez. The band consists of Junmin, Hunter, Yechan, Yujun, Seeun, Hyunwoo, Jinsik, Sunmin, Minjae and Junghoon. Junghoon had to sit out the band’s activities after receiving a knee surgery in May 2023, just two months after his debut.


With Junghoon recovered, all 10 members took part in “Spur” together, the first time in two years since the debut album.

“I’m so grateful for all the warm welcome that everyone has given me,” Junghoon told reporters during a showcase held on Thursday at the Ilchi Art Hall in southern Seoul, a day before the release of the album.

“I focused on recovering from the injury during my time off,” he continued. “I’m glad I got to come back in good health. We promise to show you a new and better chemistry with all the 10 members, We hope you look forward to what we have to show.”

"House of Tricky: Spur" is part of the band's "House of Tricky" musical storytelling EP series, the latest of which was last September's "House of Tricky: Watch Out." It told the story of the band's determination to break from the norm and push forward to the direction of its choice.

With five-track album “Spur,” xikers takes a step into the world with its uniqueness, realizing that there is always an answer if one believes in themselves. Lead track “Breathe” is a powerful hip-hop dance track highlighting xikers’ rebellious nature and passion to reach higher in their own ways.

The other four B-side tracks — “You Hide We Seek,” “Highway,” “Roller Coaster” and “Rock Your Body” — are also strong and rebellious, with the exception of casual R&B “Rock Your Body,” quite similar to the songs of xikers’ senior group Ateez.

“Our strength lies in our powerful performance that blows people’s stress away,” Yechan said. “We’ve been filling the stage with our energy-filled performances and we hope that people see just how much we love the stage.”

The band is slated to go on its second world tour, titled “Road to XY : Enter the Gate." Starting with a Seoul concert on May 3, the band is scheduled to perform at Kings Theatre in New York City on May 7, Rosemont Theatre in Rosemont, Illinois, on May 9, Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie, Texas, on May 14 and The Novo in Los Angeles on May 17.

“We were so grateful to go on a tour just seven months after our debut,” Minjae said. “During our first tour, we showed our explosive energy but we also received energy from the fans around the world who sang along to our songs and joined us. We were given the strength to continue our music and that’s the most meaningful thing of all."

“With the new tour, we’ll also get to put on our very first solo concert in Seoul,” Yechan said. “We promise to give an amazing second world tour with everything we learned from our last tour.”

“We really give off a different level of energy with all 10 members,” Junmin said. “It’ll be a sight to see.”

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]