Longtime readers of this publication could be forgiven for wondering if we’d heard the last of Mat Klachefsky.
For the past six years, the erstwhile Boats and Hut Hut frontman has shied away from the spotlight, choosing instead to focus on his job and raising his young children. Recently, he even concluded a term as president of Dodgeball Canada. But when faced with what he called a “reduction in [his] responsibilities” at work, he found himself with more time on his hands.
“I thought, ‘what a great time to record an album and go back to writing songs.’” The result is Hut Hut’s long-awaited sophomore album, “Hut Hut”, slated for release on February 5, 2026.
If the news comes as a surprise, it’s likely because publicity is not a major consideration for the band at this point in their career. Klachefsky freely admits that “I’m terrible at promoting myself and my band, so I’ll just promote ’em in the songs and that’s all you need to do.” Indeed, were it not for my periodic tendency to scroll through the “Winnipeg” tag on Bandcamp, I might have missed it altogether.
Hut Hut’s impending return may well be for a limited time only. Although the band is playing an album release show at Public Domain on February 6 (with openers Ritchot Textiles and Naked Elevator Ride), they have no tour plans on the horizon.
Klachefsky pointed out that, in addition to himself, “there’s two more dads in the band and their touring days are specifically finished. […] I would love to go on a small trip again, but I don’t think it’s in the cards unless someone said they’re gonna pay us a whole ton of money.”
Until then, he says, “I’m doing this shit on evenings and weekends.”
Once titans of Winnipeg’s indie pop scene, Klachefsky’s projects now take a more cicada-like approach to musical output. Hut Hut’s first album, Hut Hut Hut, was released in 2020, a full seven years after Boats’ last, A Fairway Full of Miners.
Klachefsky retired the Boats moniker back in 2016 because, in his words, “I didn’t want to [keep] playing the songs that I wrote when I was 20 years old.” And while three of the four band members who played on Hut Hut’s inaugural effort previously appeared on Fairway, the singer is careful to note that Hut Hut is not exactly a continuation of Boats.
“I think the songs are different now. I’ve listened to those earlier [Boats] records and they’re very of their time. There’s a lot of glockenspiel going on.” Klachefsky attributes his musical development to “aging mentally very slowly. Now I’m in my punk rock phase. I guess I was playing kids music in Boats and now I’m angsty.”
As a result, “Hut Hut” is distinctly “less wacky” than his previous work and is more influenced by “post-punk bands from the 2000s.” Beyond that, Klachefsky was reluctant to go into detail about the album’s sound.
“I don’t know how to answer that. I hate describing music.”
by Maggie A. Clark
