The good news is that ’60s New Orleans soul diva Betty Harris’ pipes are still in good working order. Her recent performance at the Old Point was a classic soul show with Harris in complete command of her voice, her talent, her band and the audience. The bad news is that she gets served a dog’s dinner here as far as material and production are concerned. Intuition contains no less than 16 of the most banal and insipid songs you’ll ever encounter in one place, all co-written by producer Jon Tiven or his wife Sally. It looks like Evidence was hoping for a Tina Turner-like comeback, but they missed the mark by several kilometers.

The opening track, “Is It Hot in Here?” sets the template for a train wreck. Check this lyric out: “Is it hot in here or is it me? / Standing next to you feels like 300 degrees.” In three-and-a-half minutes, Harris repeats the opening lyric no less than 13 times, and the bad rock guitar solo doesn’t help either.

I feel bad for Harris, but quite honestly, this is one of the most disappointing comeback release of any decade. This is the kind of stuff you put on the stereo when you want your company to go home. If you want to hear a great comeback CD by authentic soul divas, look no further than Candi Staton’s His Hands or Bettye LaVette’s Scene of the Crime. Both are produced by contemporary rock musicians—Mark Nevers and Patterson Hood respectively—but both understand their divas’ gifts and cater to them far better than Tiven does.