Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik has been known to vent a little angst in the band’s songs -- though frequently with hit-making results such as “Name,” “Iris,” “Slide” and “Black Balloon.”

So it’s hard not to be disarmed, initially, by the upbeat tone of the Goos’ latest album, “Boxes.”

“It’s not what I intended,” Rzeznik, 50, says with a laugh from his record company’s offices in Burbank, Calif. “That wasn’t my intention at the beginning of it. But as it went along it just sort of took shape that way. It’s got to be sort of a reflection of where you’re head’s at, and I’m definitely in a great place these says. So that’s what you hear.”

Adding to that bonhmomme for Rzeznik and bassist Robby Takac -- who co-founded the Goos during the mid-’80s in Buffalo -- was reaching out and working with a variety of collaborators, with virtually every song on the album co-written with one or two others -- most of whom have credits in the pop world with the likes of Katy Perry, OneRepublic, Train, Daughtry and more.

“I just wanted to do something different. I wanted to do something fun,” Rzeznik says of “Boxes,” which came out in May. “I just wanted to get together with some really interesting people and just have some ideas collide and see what happened. And that’s what we went for.

“It was a really good time, one of my favorite albums we’ve ever made.”

It was also the Goos’ first album without drummer Mike Malinin since he joined the band in 1995. He left in 2013, and Rzeznik says that added to the fresh feeling on “Boxes,” too.

“Y’know, we’re working with a new guy (Craig Macintyre), and it’s really good,” Rzeznik says. “It’s now, so it’s a lot of fun. It’s inspiring -- I think you can hear that on (‘Boxes’), too.”