I’m having a case of the Mondays. I’m not one to use that phrase much, but it is just one of those days where everything seems off, and it’s only 10 a.m. On my desk calendar, I just spotted the words “band, interview, Wild Cub, 1:30,” scribbled in my barely legible handwriting across the day’s square.

A slight panic sets in as I remember I have an interview with Wild Cub cofounder Jeremy Bullock approaching quickly. It’s been that kind of day. I quickly cue up the Nashville band’s new album, Closer, and hit the play button on my computer. The welcoming jangly sounds of lead track “Magic” waft in my ears. As singer Keegan DeWitt’s energetic vocals rush out of my office speakers, the tension I was feeling melts away. It’s a testament to the style and sound of Wild Cub. Many of the band’s anthemic songs have a happy, “nothing could go wrong” feel.

“We didn’t know what it was going to be,” multi-instrumentalist Bullock would later tell me from his home in Nashville. “We had an idea and knew what we were inspired by, but it happened naturally.”

DeWitt and Bullock started the band in 2012. They met through the tight-knit Nashville indie rock scene and became fast friends

“We would be sharing music back and forth, sharing ideas back and forth, and you just kind of know,” Bullock said. “That’s why we decided to break off and do our own project.”

That led to successful single “Thunder Clatter.” The song was used by Bose in a commercial in the United Kingdom and garnered heavy airplay on satellite radio. Wild Cub recorded its first album in a home studio the duo had thrown together. But doing things the proper way on a follow-up turned out to be harder than DeWitt, Bullock and bassist Harry West thought. They spent a few months looking for a spark in a studio with no success.

“We tried a few different methods,” Bullock said. “We found ourselves out of our elements.”

Not one of the dozens of songs they worked on in the studio during that time made it on to Closer. Instead, Wild Cub went back to the drawing board.

“Once we got out of that studio and into our home studio, that’s when we felt comfortable and where we could experiment and see where our sound went,” he said.

That sound turned out to be bigger than anything that preceded it. Closer feels more mature, and you can sense that Wild Cub has grown. While in the past, some songs may have felt like they dragged, the new album is full of energy and grandeur.

“One of our favorite things about doing this is about sharing experiences with other people who hear our music,” Bullock said. “At that point it takes on much bigger life than you ever expected it to.”

Wild Cub now prepares to release Closer Friday and head out on tour all in the same week. The group is excited to hit the road again because it’s been two years since it last toured. How the new songs will be received can be a tense moment for artists. Luckily, in this case, fans have heard the first three singles prior to the release.

The album is full of those little moments of connections: lyrically, musically and thematically. Each song feels like it could be your next favorite song, and ones you thought you may have forgotten you find yourself humming later in the day. Bullock said that’s the goal, but one that is difficult to accomplish.

“It’s the small victories, and that’s the beauty of creating music,” he said. “It’s a challenge to find your voice and figure out and capture an idea. When you do, and when it attaches to someone, that’s when it becomes special.”

Follow reporter Shane Johnson at Twitter.com/shanejohnson14 and Instagram.com/thehurra.