Thomas Juth breaks down his mindset for manually automating vocal levels, working word by word and phrase by phrase until the vocal locks into the song.
The goal isn't a flat, even level. Sometimes a line should push louder or duck quieter on purpose, because that's where the emotional weight of the lyric lives.
He's upfront that his first automation pass is never right, and that's expected. It's one step in a longer process of refining until the vocal feels inevitable.
He also shares which elements he solos against the vocal while automating. On a beat-driven song he listens to drums and bass with the vocal first, but on a guitar-driven track like this one, he listens to guitar and keys against the vocal instead, since those are the song's main melodic elements.