Clear Moon is the fifth studio album by Mount Eerie, a solo project by American musician Phil Elverum.

[3][6] Most of the aforementioned experimentations were discarded, however some were eventually developed and were placed into 2 distinct groups: Clear Moon and Ocean Roar.

[6] Elverum cites Burzum, Eihei Dōgen, Gary Snyder, Cold Mountain and zen poetry as an influence on the album.

[7][10][11] Musically, Clear Moon is a departure from Elverum's previous studio album, the distortion-heavy Wind's Poem; replacing the heavy guitars for "ominous rumbling and isolated feedback squalls.

"[6][12] Described as "lush and expansive,"[13] the album is predominantly guitar-based, featuring downplayed vocals, droning organs, 4/4 drum beats, chimes and "overlapping, hypnotic guitar lines.

[18] Tonally, the album is clearer and lighter than Ocean Roar, while still retaining Elverum's typical dark style,[19] and has more extensive use of synthesizer and vocals.

[14] Lyrically, the songs makes reference to existentialism,[16] the artificiality of being an artist, Elverum's relation to nature, his life in Anacortes, Washington and "the unexpected moments of clarity that briefly flash through.

"[6][7][14] Narratively, it expands on the story first introduced in the final Microphones studio album at the time, Mount Eerie, and sees Elverum traverse the ocean and undergo a metaphorical rebirth.

[20] Elverum described the album as a "resonant lone bell symbol, the glint in the water, the sudden breath" and as an "abstract non-narrative diary" exploring his mental state.

[22][23] The song also make use of ambient noise, Elverum's "trademark" humor and stereo panning with the guitars utilising the left and right speakers.

[24][25] "The Place Lives" explores humanity's relation and ultimate insignificance to the world at large in a lyrical manner akin to Japanese poetry.

[24][30] "Lone Bell" is a jazz-like noise rock song, composed of processed vocals, piano,[20] saxophone accents, snare drum brushes, bass and "metal" riffs and two repeating droning chords.

[14][23][31] Utilising space and repetition in a manner similar to that of Neu!,[28] "House Shape" features a pump organ, detuned acoustic guitars, strings, keyboard, drums and elements of shoegaze.

[3] "Over Dark Water" is a gothic, doom metal "anti-hymn to night and nothingness" which features choral singing from Geneviève Castrée.

[5] Described as the climax of the album,[21] the cacophonous title track features manipulated—vocoder-like—vocals from Elverum alongside additional vocals from Carson Churchill and Paul Benson.

[38] Elverum was accompanied by Loren Mazzacane Connors and Bouquet as well as a live band consisting of a drummer, a bass player, two guitarists, a keyboardist and three singers.

[30] Sean Caldwell of No Ripcord wrote that "Elverum’s utilization of metallic and avant-garde elements into what might otherwise be considered a folk album demonstrates a songwriter unlimited by genre and also turned on by creative possibility".