Kim David Smith hoped to set the scene for better days ahead when he premiered his latest cabaret show, “Mostly Marlene,” just days before COVID-19 shuttered theaters and live performance venues around the world in March 2020.

Five years later, the Australian-born actor and singer has captured “Mostly Marlene” for posterity as a new live album, recorded at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater in New York and released Friday. And though the world has changed significantly, he said his mission for the project remains.

“My album is proof of life for happy queer spaces, full of happy queer folk and allied others,” Smith told HuffPost. “I made a gay album for queer people, and especially hope it is streamed in Republican states – Lord knows they need some queer joy!”

As its title suggests, “Mostly Marlene” is Smith’s tribute to the late Hollywood icon Marlene Dietrich, with guest performers who include drag performer and playwright Charles Busch and Welsh pop artist Bright Light Bright Light.

One of the highlights of the show, however, is his rendition of two Kylie Minogue songs, “In Your Eyes” and “Slow,” performed as a throwback, piano-led mashup.

Watch Kim David Smith perform “In Your Eyes” and “Slow” below.

Describing Dietrich and Minogue as his “mega-muses,” he said the decision to put his twist on the two songs was an easy one: “I received [Kylie’s] first album on vinyl on my 6th birthday, and she’s been part of the family ever since.”

After relocating to New York in 2007, Smith began establishing himself as a stalwart of Manhattan’s nightlife scene with a repertoire that includes both modern pop as well as standards sung in German and French. His debut live album, “Kim David Smith Live at Joe’s Pub,” was released in 2020, and he’s routinely taken his act on the road, performing across the U.S. as well as his native Australia.

The release of “Mostly Marlene” seems auspiciously timed. Dietrich rose to global fame during Germany’s Weimar Republic era, a period defined by civil unrest and economic challenges that some media outlets have compared to America’s current sociopolitical climate.

Acknowledging it’s a “ghastly time,” particularly for members of the LGBTQ+ community, Smith is hopeful audiences will see his work as a testament to queer empowerment.

“Music is part of the protest, part of the galvanizing of hearts, part of retaining your culture in the face of fascist erasure,” he said. “We’ll still be singing our songs, whether at the Kennedy Center or not.”