Clear Pond Road received a score of 77 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on four critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception.[1]Uncut called it "deliciously dark and yet full of an elegant lightness, this is Hersh at the top of her considerable game",[4] while Mojo described it as "hard-won optimism, as ever, from this troubled heroine".[2]The Wire stated that Hersh has "done it again but, as ever, differently".[5] Steve Erickson of Slant Magazine felt that Hersh has "successfully carved out her own lane, maintaining a touch of the Muses's jaggedness while largely eschewing electric instrumentation" as "the album's production embraces the inherently rough edges of Hersh's songs", which he wrote "feel intensely personal but opaque".[3]
