The trial version is over for boy band xikers, who is now ready to show its true colors in the real game with its third EP “House of Tricky: Trial And Error.”

“As the third entry in the ‘House of Tricky’ album series, we are now done with the tutorials that Tricky, the icon of our fictional universe, sent us, and now we are in the real game,” Jinsik said during a press showcase held at the Shinhan Card Sol Pay Square Live Hall in Mapo District, western Seoul. The press showcase was held Thursday afternoon, a day before the release of its third EP.


The band’s debut lead track “Tricky House” (2023) saw the band incorporating traditional Korean lore like dokkaebi (goblin) and Bollywood-style sounds in a Moombahton-themed track, while “Homeboy” (2023) showed the “refreshing yet dynamic” side of the boy band.

With “We Don’t Stop,” its latest lead track, xikers reinterpreted the old-school hip-hop genre by mixing it with other genres of music.

“The lead track shows xikers’ strong energy as we relentlessly march forward,” Yechan said.

“xikers’ number one identity comes down to our energy, followed by the intensiveness of our songs. You can feel the strong energy sweeping the atmosphere even when you listen just to the instrumental versions of our songs,” Minjae, the leader of xikers, said.

Minjae was quick to prove his point, as he broke his microphone performing the lead track during the press event.

“We also have a lot of members in our band, so we try to engage through unconventional [music and performance] structures. We tried to showcase such colors with songs in a variety of genres in our latest album,” Minjae said.

The album features six total tracks: “Trial And Error (whereabouts),” “We Don’t Stop,” “Red Sun,” “Supercalifragilistic,” "Every Flavor Jelly" and “Break A Leg.”

Hongjoong, the leader of KQ Entertainment’s senior boy band Ateez, was involved in the production of five tracks — excluding the intro track “Trial And Error” — alongside xikers rappers Minjae, Sumin and Yechan taking part in making the raps.

The strong energy of the band may be in part from its first world tour “Tricky House: First Encounter,” which kicked off just seven months after xikers' debut.

“We recently completed the European leg of the tour, and we were able to share our energy with our fans and receive energy back from them. It was really a dreamlike experience,” Minjae said. “We tried blending that energy into our new album.”

The band members also relayed messages from Junghoon, xikers’ 10th member who is currently taking a break from band activities after a serious knee injury in May last year.

“Junghoon, who I'm roommates with, has been sending a lot of supportive messages to our members. He also asked me to relay the message that he can’t wait to see xikers showing its full synergy as a group of 10,” Junmin said.

“I’m excited about our future activities because I feel like we are now able to try out more concepts,” Yechan said.

To find out more about xikers, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]