Song Review:: xikers: ROUTE ZERO : The ORA- Outsider

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  • Release date: 2026 May 19
  • Album tracklist: Ghost Rider, OKay, Graffiti, Trophy, Outsider
  • Album runtime: 14 minutes

 I'd been thinking about doing this when the video came out, but then I didn't do it and forgot it as I do most things. I have the memory of a sieve but I never know what's going to fall through and what's going to stick. And these are my kids! This was my first rookie group! And they're one of my March debuts, so of course I'm going to shout about the kids (I recognize that they're all adults, but they'll be the kids until they get their own younger sibling group) to anyone who will listen and into the Void if I must about how amazing they are live. The music is good. The performances are better.

Spray can sound effects are fun. It's been a hot minute since we got a song with that, ignoring the fact that this is a b-side and not a title track, but I won't say anything if you won't. I love how we get softer songs for their b-sides, and yes, while this feels a bit like late 00s rock, this is softer compared to the title track. It doesn't have too much synth going on here, but it is sitting happy with the standard trio of band instruments: drums, electric guitar and bass guitar. The flow of the song's energy is steady and predictable in hitting the expected story beats, so to speak, but conforming to genre is a good thing often because it knows what it is, and that predictability in the instrumental allows the vocals to shine without requiring the listener's focus to be split quite as strongly.

I need xikers to go full ballad at some point. I really do. Full ballad and some jazz would be fun, although the latter is something that I'm not quite as antsy about. I also need the public to take a listen to these vocals that could be shown off so well with a ballad, but rock is an acceptable alternative for now. This is also a peak encore song considering the amount of vocal layering the song has (which is good to give the members a late-concert boost in energy and let them hype with the crowd), and is a little fitting and proper considering this is the last song on the mini album. The last song is often dedicated to the members and the fans as a dedicated fan song, and I dare say that they continue this trend here. But also this is so much singing that it has settled into my favorite song from the mini album. Although Ghost Rider is a close second. But the vocals here, even if we don't get as much vibrato as I want, are what claimed it that top spot. 

They also continued their trend of having their special video for the fans be outside. It doesn't technically have a music video (though it does have a performance video if you're curious about the choreography), but it does have a live clip and since I'm currently more interested in their vocals, well, you get the live clip instead.

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