It features the Dutch jazz and pop orchestra Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley.

Clear Day is a "mélange of folk and rock staples"[1] with songs by "artists spanning all genres and time periods, from Brad Mehldau to Coldplay.

Canadian music writer Kerry Doole wrote that Barlow's talents "coalesce to stunning effect on Clear Day, the most ambitious offering yet in a prolific discography".

[6] The CBC's Melody Lau wrote that Clear Day is "a gamble that pays off when she cleverly pulls a mélange of folk and rock staples into the realm of orchestration.

"[7] Christophe Rodriguez of Montreal's Sorties Jazz Nights wrote that Barlow "seems to have reached another level" and that "she crafts her albums like a precision watchmaker"[8] Lesley Mitchell-Clarke of theWholeNote wrote "... this recording is a portrait of the artist as a mature women poised at the full apex of her skill, talent, inspiration and power.