BEYONDERS Vol. 4: Momoko Iwasaki and Loren Heat Release Co-Written Single “In Time”
Through a partnership with Generator, a leading music-development organization in northern England, the Music City Council of Fukuoka brought together Fukuoka-based singer-songwriter Momoko Iwasaki and Newcastle-based singer-songwriter Loren Heat for the fourth edition of its international co-creation project BEYONDERS. Their jointly written song “In Time” was released digitally worldwide on July 3, 2026.
Connecting the two music cities of Fukuoka and Newcastle, the work emerged as a model for sustainable cultural exchange that extends beyond interaction between individual artists.
Release information
Title: In Time
Artists: Momoko Iwasaki and Loren Heat
Release date: July 3, 2026
Format: Digital single
Labels: Interval Records / Special 10 Records
About the songwriting project
BEYONDERS is an international co-writing project organized by the Music City Council of Fukuoka to support musicians active in Fukuoka as they expand overseas and to create new opportunities for cultural exchange and creativity.
Previous releases have paired Thai indie band KIKI with Fukuoka band Deep Sea Diving Club in 2023; Taiwanese lovers-rock reggae band PengLai Mt. with Fukuoka rapper PEAVIS in 2024; and Korean singer Summer Soul with Fukuoka band YOHLU for the 2025 collaboration “INSTANT LOVE.”
For this edition, Momoko Iwasaki and Loren Heat took part in a residential songwriting session at Studio Symphonia in Fukutsu, Fukuoka, from February 7 to 10, 2026. Living and working together over several days, they completed the co-written song “In Time.”
Created through repeated dialogue between two artists with different languages and cultural backgrounds, the song embodies the process of cross-border co-creation itself.
Cultural exchange connecting Fukuoka and Newcastle
The project was made possible through a partnership between the Music City Council of Fukuoka and Generator, a leading music-development organization in northern England. International music exchange often centers on major metropolitan areas such as Tokyo and London. This initiative instead began by directly connecting Fukuoka and Newcastle, two regional cities that have each nurtured distinctive music cultures. Through music, regional cities connect and generate new works and personal exchange. What began as a single collaboration is developing into an ongoing cultural exchange.
Exchange growing from the song
The completed song “In Time” premiered at FUKUOKA MUSIC SUMMIT at the Fukuoka International Congress Center on February 11, 2026.
In May 2026, Momoko Iwasaki toured the United Kingdom, performing in Newcastle and London and appearing at The Great Escape, one of the UK’s largest showcase festivals.
In June 2026, Iwasaki and Loren Heat performed “In Time” at the British Embassy in Japan’s celebration of the King’s birthday. By expanding from co-writing to live collaboration and an international tour, the project demonstrates new possibilities for international cultural exchange through music.
Momoko Iwasaki
“I deeply resonated with a monk’s words: ‘The quality of our work and our relationships are merely decorations attached to the act of eating and sleeping.’ Even so, I still feel that daily life is an endless series of choices and struggles.
The day Loren and I got together to write this song was probably the coldest day of the year. I was bundled up in a big puffy down jacket, while Loren and the others were wearing short sleeves—a scene I’ll never forget.
I’m truly happy that we were able to create something together while appreciating our differences.”
I deeply resonated with a monk’s words: “The quality of our work and our relationships are merely decorations attached to the act of eating and sleeping.” Even so, I still feel that daily life is an endless series of choices and struggles.
The day Lauren and I got together to write this song was probably the coldest day of the year. I was bundled up in a big puffy down jacket, while Lauren and the others were wearing short sleeves — a scene I’ll never forget.
I’m truly happy that we were able to create something together while appreciating our differences.
Loren Heat
This song to me is about struggling with patience, that all good things come in good time. I was working away in Japan and I was away from my partner, and I wanted nothing more than her by my side. The chorus is the battle between the knowledge that I’m happy and doing what I love but having to wait to be back with them. The feeling of knowing you’ll get it but you have to let time pass and be patient.
“This song to me is about struggling with patience, that all good things come in good time. I was working away in Japan and I was away from my partner, and I wanted nothing more than her by my side. The chorus is the battle between the knowledge that I’m happy and doing what I love but having to wait to be back with them. The feeling of knowing you’ll get it but you have to let time pass and be patient.”
Profiles
Momoko Iwasaki
A singer-songwriter from Okayama who lives in Fukuoka. She delivers words shaped by her distinctive perspective through melodies and a voice in which strength and vulnerability shimmer together. Beginning her career with solo singing and guitar, she has broadened her expression through collaborations with trackmakers and band members. Her activities include a featured appearance on a Skaai release; participation in the 20th-anniversary song for MUSIC CITY TENJIN 2024 produced by Ana; selection as an opening act for Salasa; a guest appearance on FM Yokohama’s Shinya no Ongaku Shokudo, hosted by DJ Yutaka Matsushige; an appearance at The Great Escape 2026 in Brighton; and successful performances in London and Newcastle. She continues to cross genres and borders with ease. She released her long-awaited first full-length album, Pikapika, digitally on May 20, 2026. The album allows listeners to experience, with all its lingering heat, the personal truth she reached by deeply sensing the many forms of friction in daily life.
Loren Heat
Captivating, incisive, bold, and uncompromising, Loren Heat is a powerful new presence in the UK pop scene. Based in the North East, Loren released the debut EP Scarlet Haze and quickly made waves across the scene.
Exploring the struggle to acknowledge one’s emotions and experiences from life’s most difficult periods, Heat’s candid lyrics blend love at its sweetest with desire at its most vulnerable.
The sharp-edged pop sound has already attracted attention from major tastemakers including Clash, DIY, Spotify, Apple Music, BBC Introducing, Record of the Day, Notion, Atwood, Earmilk, and NARC. Magazine.
Inspired by global icons including Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Slayyyter, Dua Lipa, and JADE, Loren is as uncompromising as the stories in the music, exploring queerness, identity, and the raw chaos of life in Middlesbrough. Newly signed to Interval Records (Generator/Universal), Loren was selected as one of BBC Introducing’s Ones To Watch for 2026.
