Third Collaboration on Artizen Records Weaves Global Acoustic Instruments and Sound Healing Into a Meditative Tribute to the Ocean and the Dolphin
LOS ANGELES, CA – March 30, 2026 – Grammy-winning Hawaiian slack-key legend and Weird Al Yankovic’s 40+ year guitarist Jim “Kimo” West, and Billboard Top-10 New Age artist Joss Jaffe today release Delphinus on all streaming platforms via Artizen Records. The duo’s third studio collaboration is their most immersive and focused statement yet — an ocean-inspired world/ambient journey that evokes the sensation of moving through water: weightless, luminous, and calm.
Drawing its name from Delphinus, the dolphin constellation, the album charts an underwater narrative through track titles like “Party Wave,” “Thermocline,” “Echolocation,” “Underwater Sunrise,” and “Wake Riding.” Lifelong surfers, swimmers, and ocean lovers, Jaffe and West channel decades spent in and on the water into a meditative tribute to the ocean and to the playful dolphin — master of the waves. Mastered by JJ Golden of Golden Mastering, Delphinus invites deep listening while working beautifully as a transportive background for yoga, spa, massage, bodywork, and contemplative practices.
The album’s release day focus track, “Underwater Sunrise,” is a showcase for the duo’s masterful blending of global acoustic instruments. Opening with a mysterious, shimmering guitar lick, the song unfolds into a lilting 6/8 rhythm driven by Indian Tabla drums and world percussion. Layers of unique melodic passages — including West’s signature Hawaiian slack-key guitar and Jaffe’s Ngoni African harp — build an evocative soundscape that captures the feeling of shafts of light traveling through the ocean depths, as if seen from the perspective of a dolphin watching the sunrise.
“Deepest Blue” is a standout secondary focus track and a deeply ambient relaxation piece crafted specifically for yoga, spa, massage, and wellness settings. The Ngoni African harp — similar in character to the West African Kora — opens with a hypnotic ostinato, soon joined by harmonic guitar passages, cello, and layered harmonies that build into something rich, meditative, and profoundly relaxing. The track is equally well-suited for study and concentration playlists. Jaffe and West have previously earned placement on spa and wellness playlists on Sirius XM Radio, Pandora, Spotify, and Apple Music Editorial Yoga & Wellness playlists.
West’s fluid, melodic guitar lines and deep Hawaiian reverence weave throughout the album alongside Jaffe’s arsenal of global textures: Ngoni African harp, Indian tabla, South Indian kanjira, Ipu Heke Hawaiian percussion, shakers, and more. Their previous collaborations, Aum Akua (2022) and Santhi (2024), have earned hundreds of thousands of streams and strong support across yoga, wellness, and ambient communities.