Botanical Animal is an indie rock band from Salt Lake City. The band has been building a grassroots fanbase after the release of their debut LP in 2024 thanks to their energetic performances and crowd-winning message. They have headlined all across their home state of Utah playing universities and well-known venues, caught the attention of local and international radio stations, and opened for touring acts such as The Unlikely Candidates and Bad Bad Hats.
BOTAN, Botanical Animal’s first full length album, is a fusion of retro synth pop and modern day indie rock anthems. With a philosophical awareness of the self and world, BOTAN straddles the mental musings of the modern millennial and diverse sounds from 80’s afro-pop to indie rock for a sound that feels foreign, yet familiar all at once. Austin Seaman, the creative force behind the album, cites contemporary music heroes such as Young the Giant, Vampire Weekend, and Walk the Moon along with predecessors like Paul Simon and Johnny Clegg in his influences for the LP.
Overwhelmed with the encumbering sense of responsibility which promptly arrives during young adulthood, Austin Seaman speculates on the state of the world as it was handed to him. Spanning weighty subjects such as generational cycles, idealized world peace, and political polarity, BOTAN is intentionally aware of life's biggest problems. "This album is about widening your perspective in every way," says Seaman. "Ubuntu (I Am Because We Are)", an 80's world throwback, manifests this idea in the macro, and "Devil Is Sly", a grungy rock anthem about liking your demons, does so in the micro. Though the album touts a mature worldview, BOTAN is not love agnostic. "Love En Route" brings an exotic twist to Cinematic Rock with its classical guitar turned spy-ballad ambience, and "The Affordable Housing Act of 1853" restores rock/pop parity to the album as a surfy heartbreak, roll-the-windows-down car sing-a-long. In eight tracks, Botanical Animal's freshman LP works hard to establish a broad musical acumen.
