It’s so ironic. In some ways, the Figs never intended to be the group it is now. The all-women roots music sextet had only been together six months when Valcour Records’ Joel Savoy approached them about recording, something that wasn’t even on the radar. But in due time, the group gained a deeper awareness of its shared identify and what constitutes a Figs song. While evolution has been rapid ever since, at the same time, the Figs have retained their signature attributes like the shuffling rhythms that are topped off by multi-part harmonies that range from breathtaking to haunting. Sarah Gray’s single-note Telecaster picking is not only expressive in terms of tonality and technique, but it clearly outlines a tune’s melodic direction with flashes of sophisticated harmonies.

Songcraft is where the biggest leap occurs on What Keeps You Up at Night. The Figs wrote a dozen originals out of 15 tracks. Two in particular, Caroline Helms’ tuneful “It’s All About Me” and Gray’s “High Heeled Stomp,” are blockbusters as well as mandatory bring-the-house-down live staples. On the hilarious “It’s All About Me,” Helms utters the word “me” an estimated 28 times in a 3:06 song that spans three distinct movements. The latter is an infectious road song-inspired, composition featuring such clever hook lines as “We got banjo strings and we got / other frilly things” that can’t help but further embellish an already established identity.

Four of Julian Johnson’s six originals read like an open, heart-pouring diary chronicling a failed relationship, and the fictional “To Sail the Sea” exemplifies the Figs’ growth as artsy arrangers. The intro’s swelling background vocals forecast peril for a protagonist who vows to live a life at sea. Tragedy strikes; the ship sinks; all are killed, which is signaled by the diminishing background vocals that gradually converge into a single, sustained note signaling death’s final curtain call. A record deserving of serious play.