Easy like Monday morning

Mondays are inevitable, but music helps. Yes, Spotify and Apple Music boast some excellent playlists in the ‘‘motivation’’ field, but for days when Calvin Harris, Macklemore and Taylor Swift seem a little patronising, give these albums a spin for a more gentle start to the week.

If you’re a sucker for stripped back, acoustic pop music, look no further than New Zealand talent Mitch James’ self-titled debut, Mitch James.

With the exception of heartbreaker No Getting Older (a song much better suited to a fragile Sunday evening), the record flows from one quietly optimistic song to the next.

Sure to cure even the toughest case of Monday blues, James gives life to a genre many were convinced had no room left to grow.

The latest release from New Zealand band Yumi Zouma, EP III offers up four tracks of breezy, sun-laden bliss.

Sure to leave you feeling more energised than any quadshot flat white ever could, effortless, rolling melodies will have you gliding through the work day with more Zen than your go-to guru.

Push the David Guetta aside, this is the kind of dreamy synthpop worthy of starting your week.

Under normal circumstances, a Kim Petras pop banger would be far too sickly for a Monday morning, but her recently released EP, Turn Off the Light, Vol 1 changes everything.

A Halloween-themed eighttrack release, Petras puts a dark, Gaga-esque spin on her signature sound, offering just enough pep to provide a light at the end of the tunnel, but not so much as to leave you furious that it’s only 9am.