It has received positive reviews from critics and has been promoted with three music videos and live performances.

[5] Editors at AllMusic rated this album 4 out of 5 stars, with critic Tim Sendra writing "the sound of Pearlies isn't far from what one would expect from Anderson" based on her work with Lush and is "very textured and atmospheric, guitar-heavy dream pop with a steady stream of melancholy running through the middle".

[6] In Exclaim!, Eric Hill scored Pearlies 7 out of 10, stating that Chapman "approaches the work with a keen ear for detail, though most of his electronic elements are cleverly bundled and sunken in support of Anderson's glittering guitars and drifting vocals".

[7] Sam Walton of Loud and Quiet scored this album a 7 out of 10, writing that "when it works, though, as it frequently does, Pearlies is genuinely bewitching, reminiscent of the folk-horror sides of Goldfrapp and Broadcast and full of pretty melodies with foreboding underbellies, like TV theme tunes beamed in from an alternate dimension".

[8] Phil Mongredien of The Observer gave Pearlies 4 out of 5 stars, characterizing it as "a hypnotic, electro-pop slow-burner" and "a successful enough reinvention for Anderson surely to be wondering why she didn’t make a solo record sooner".

[9] In Record Collector, Pearlies received 4 out of 5 stars and critic Terry Staunton compared the work to Cocteau Twins, summing up that it "points to a bright and fulfilling solo future".