BE prepared to be amazed — The Magnets are heading to Burnley Mechanics next Friday night.

The six-man sound machine, who combine a capella singing and beat boxing, covering everything from Kraftwerk to Lady GaGa, have played sold out shows all over the country and have recently returned from a major tour of Australia.

When you listen to The Magnets it’s hard to believe that there are no instruments involved at all — just six very different voices combining to brilliant effect.

Michael Welton, one of the founders of the group 10 years ago, when they were all students at University College London, said: “I do think people who haven’t seen us before are totally surprised by the show.”

At the heart of The Magnets sound is beat boxer Andy Frost.

“Andy is an amazing drummer anyway, so he has this serious understanding of rhythm,” said Michael.

“He does surprise us at times with what he can do. Also, for a beat boxer to be able to sustain the rhythms for an entire show is amazing.”

The Magnets don’t just do ‘straight’ versions of pop songs, they reinvent them for their shows, so you might get Bon Jovi bossa nova style or Adele’s Rollin’ in the Deep as though written by Stevie Wonder.

“The arrangements are getting more complicated,” said Michael.

“Sometimes we get together for the first time to try out an idea and it sounds dreadful but then we’ll work it through until we’re all happy with it.”

With a punishing schedule and a show that places great strain on the performers, The Magnets have to take care of their voices.

“You do get ‘match fit’ when you’re out on a tour,” said Michael. “But due to the complex arrangements we have we do need all six voices to be working together. Although the core of the band remains the six of us we do have a pool of about nine or 10 singers now we can call on if we need to in an emergency.”

As well as touring the UK, the group are also working on a new album.

“We’re working on an album focusing on British songwriters,” said Michael, “and we’ve brought in a few elements from the folk world too.

We’re doing some Peter Gabriel, Sting and Bowie but the arrangements give the songs a different feel, so we’ve got Queen done doo-wop style for instance.

“We’re hoping to release the album in August when we return to the Edinburgh Festival.”

The Magnets, Burnley Mechanics, Friday, May 25. Details from the box office on 01282 664400