Direct techniques for cosmic ray observations have reached an unprecedented level of precision, unveiling fine-details of the energy spectra. I will introduce the evidence for new spectral features which has been accumulated by new experiments over the past few years, and review the main ideas invoked in the theoretical explanations of the revealed spectral breaks and elemental spectra non- universality. Some implications for the antimatter (positron/antiproton) channels will be highlighted, notably in the context of indirect WIMP dark matter searches.